Embarking with Gratitude

by Sarah Hensler

edited by Bob Terwilliger, summer 2023

Seen from a distance, retirement looked like a destination. Now that I have arrived, it is clear that it is the start of a new journey. Or is it a new leg of a continuing one? Whether it’s a brand-new journey, or just a new path, the truth is that there is a lot to learn and adjust to: new daily rhythms, new budgets, new freedom (where shall we live now?), and, last but not least, calls to new kinds of service. It’s that last, that call to service, that reminds me that the retirement journey is a continuation of a journey in ministry, one that started out for me in parish ministry in Montrose, New York, and now finds me completing a ministry of college teaching at St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas.

Happily, though, for all of us, the call to ministry has no expiration date, and retirement is not the end of God’s call on our lives. I have rejoiced in that fact for the last three years as I have engaged in the Episcopal Diocese of Texas’s training program for spiritual directors. My retirement will begin with a June graduation from the training program that has readied me for my next ministry. I am so grateful for the continuity, the assurance that God is still guiding me, and the new path that God has set me on. Retirement is not the destination I imagined as I looked forward to it! It is a journey that I am embarking on with gratitude for God’s faithful presence on the way.

Sarah received her BA from Hope College, her MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary, and her MA and PhD from the Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York. She served the Reformed Church of Cortlandtown in Montrose, New York. She has taught at the College of Staten Island, Hunter College, Southwestern University, and St. Edward’s University. She also taught

English as a foreign language in Japan, and was a Scholar in Residence in Morocco. Sarah and her husband live in Austin, Texas. shenseler2@gmail.com