“I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest!” (John 4:35).
I retired in January 2018 at age 67. Most lawyers never get to retire, but I was fortunate to have a generous judicial and legislative pension. Indeed, one day I calculated my pension and realized that my retirement ‘take-home’ pay might exceed my work checks. That was the moment you start to wonder why you go to work. I started joking, “I’m not retiring. I quit!” That was only half a joke. But we have never looked back, until now, for just a moment. I decided to take a quick look backwards.
Each year since retirement has been unique and full of memories. If you’re looking for some unsolicited advice on how to live in so-called retirement years, all I can do is tell you what has happened for me- so far. And so far, so good.
2018 — Last Year on Earth. I pretended like 2018 was my last year on earth. Literally. It was a wonderful way to live. I told this to a few people who thought I had a terminal illness. I was healthier than ever, but tried to ‘pretend’ every day that 2018 would be the end. It seemed to make sense. This mindset helped us fulfill a life-long dream to go to Scotland for several weeks. I gladly said ‘No’ to several offers which were simply not important enough. It was a healthy way to live. When time is short, perspective gets focused.
2019 — Year of Forever. We moved from Kentucky to Alabama on February 1, 2019. Instead of living as if it were my last year on earth, I presumed that I would live to be 104 like my grandpa Robinson. It was a blessed year of planning for old age. I began to work seriously on my novel, Player’s Progress: A Golfer’s Journey to Wisdom. Work started in earnest on a website to provide a venue for storytelling and writing, hoping to leave something behind. I envisioned people reading my stuff long after I am gone. “The Second Tee” became a viable charity, fulfilling a mission to use golf venues for the Kingdom.
2020 — Year of Jubilee. This entire year was a fifty-year Jubilee celebration of my salvation experience on February 6, 1970. Click here for my full 2020 Alabama Jubilee report! Jubilee is supposed to be a huge once-in-a-lifetime Sabbath. So, I declared in February that 2020 would be a year of Rest and Sabbath for me. I canceled all trips and meetings. Then, thanks to Covid’s furious arrival in March 2020, it became a sabbatical for the whole world. My declaration that 2020 would be a year of rest and celebration was ‘right on’. The entire universe seemed to agree- it was time to take a break.
2021 — Year of Sorrow. Covid continued through 2021 and became a year of personal sorrow. It started the year before when osteosarcoma took the life of my young friend, Kentucky golfer Cullen Brown. That sorrow came storming upon us from India when Timmy Samuel, age 21, died on March 17, 2021. Then Joel Kumar, age 41, died in June. These two dear younger men were like sons, or maybe better said, grandsons, to me. And then 59-year-old Jeff Hopper died in September. He was a long-time inspirational friend and writer in the golf world for me. I survived some of the sorrow by staying busy putting the finishing touches on my novel. The sadness of those days provided new insight and reality for the stories being told in the novel. A trip to the Orkney Islands provided needed research for the final product of Pilgrims Progress: A Golfer’s Journey to Wisdom.
2022 — Year of the Story. Covid lockdown began to abate. The book was finally published in June. My website (www.timphilpot.com) kicked off at the same time. I officially declared myself to be a Storyteller, no matter what anyone else thinks. Instead of being a lawyer, or a judge, or a preacher, or a politician, I decided to be a full-blown ‘author. Sue and I hosted thirteen couples for the British Open at St. Andrews and more. I began to travel to tell the story of Player’s Progress and more. New stories emerged as we told the old ones.
2023 — Year of Revival. And then, wow! February 8 was the beginning of another ‘Revival’ at Asbury University- better known as an “Outpouring” to differentiate from all the revival talk from 1970. That spirit lasted all year for us, reflected mostly in relationships around our new home in Alabama. We have new revival stories of friends coming to Jesus. Many ‘lost balls’ have been found!
This revival was not just in a small town in Kentucky. It hit the whole world. I saw it first-hand in trips to Tulsa (Oklahoma), Palm Desert (California), Minneapolis and Brainerd (Minnesota), Salem (Oregon), Calgary (Canada), and Troy (Alabama). Not to mention a major 18-day ‘revival’ trip to Korea, Indonesia, and India.
And also not to mention a ten-day trip to Ireland and Scotland in May to work on videos with Chad Crouch for www.playersprogress.com and www.hokmahgolfclub.com. The videos debuted in our first-ever LIVeGolf54 golf retreat at Steelwood C.C., all based on the concepts in Player’s Progress (www.LIVeGolf54.com).
Last year also included the deaths of some dear friends, but somehow, instead of sorrow, we had a sense of joy. In great faith, we declared a place in heaven for Hubertus Von Bachmayr in France. The same for my first golf pro, Humzey Yessin, who died at 94. We will never forget his baptism in the golf club’s swimming pool at age 87. And my dear mentor, Enrique Cepeda from Mexico, who helped baptize me in the Jordan River many years ago. Heaven is filling up with friends.
2024 — So……. could 2024 be a Year of Harvest? Why not? It makes sense to me that a Year of Revival should be followed by a Year of Harvest. Perhaps 2023 was just a prelude to the powerful work of the Lord in harvesting souls in 2024. I well remember a short tear-jerker video from around 1999 titled The Harvest: A Modern Day Parable. https://vimeo.com/146853439). Check it out here or just google it. And now, about 25 years later, I am wondering again. Is it time for the Harvest?
I am not sure, but I do know that the Bible has a lot to say about this Harvest:
First, there is a time for it. Ecclesiastes 3’1-2: “There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest.” Galatians 6’8: “So don’t get discouraged and give up, for we will reap a harvest of blessing at the appropriate time.”
Second, it could just be a harvest of “right living”. Hebrews 12’11: “No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening- it is painful. But afterward, there will be a quiet harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.”
Third, it could mean a harvest of “generosity”. 2 Corinthians 9’10: “For God is the one who gives seed to the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will give you many opportunities to do good, and he will produce a great harvest of generosity.”
Fourth, workers seem to be few for this Harvest. Matthew 9’36: “The harvest is so great, but the workers are so few. So, pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send out more workers for his fields.”
Fifth, this Harvest has something to do with Eternal Life. John 4’35-38: “Wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest. The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike! You know the saying, ‘One plants and another harvests,’ And it’s true. I sent you to harvest where you didn’t plant; others had already done the work, and now you will get to gather the harvest.”
Sixth, our tears may be needed to bring forth the Harvest. Psalm 126’4-6: “Those who plant in tears and will harvest with shouts of joy. They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest.”
Last and seventh, in faith we should Celebrate the Harvest. Exodus 23’16: “You must also celebrate the Festival of Harvest when you bring me the first crops of your harvest.”
So…………. 2018 was my Last Year on Earth. 2019 was a Year of Forever. 2020 was a Year of Jubilee. 2021 was a Year of Sorrow. 2022 was a Year of the Story. 2023 was a Year of Revival. And now……….. 2024 could be a Year of Harvest. “Pray to the Lord of the Harvest…”