Growing up a John Wayne fan, I remember watching a John Wayne movie called “The Hellfighters.”

It was about a man and his company that went around the world putting out oil fires when a fire broke out during oil drilling. It was often dangerous but necessary work to contain the fire and stop environmental damage. It was also necessary for the safety of the drilling crews.

Having lived for several years doing ministry in Western Oklahoma and the central part of Texas, one of the sights that you see daily is the pumping rigs drawing the black crude oil out of the ground. They pump 24 hours a day with only short breaks for the underground oil reservoir to replenish.

Then, driving at night, I would see the drilling platforms lit up like a Christmas tree along the skyline, drilling deep into the ground searching for crude oil 24 hours a day.

One of the phrases that I learned in Oklahoma was that some oil drillers were considered “wildcatters.” They would take a chance on drilling an oil well where nobody else would, and a lot of times the hole would come up dry, producing no oil. Other times, they would hit the jackpot and live for another day to drill another oil well.

As I was thinking about that, I realized that as we grow older, sometimes we feel like our life has produced nothing but a dry hole.

Especially since I retired at the end of this month a year ago, I’ve had a lot of time to think about that. What did my ministry produce?

Jesus tells us in the scriptures to be like the lilies of the field, “who neither toil nor spin and the birds in the air that do not worry.” Yet we all tend to worry if we are doing the right things in life.

Jesus tells us, “Then have no care for tomorrow: Tomorrow will take care of itself. Take the trouble of the day as it comes.” Matthew 6:34

We all know that that is easier said than done, even for the best of us who are followers of Jesus. So, what about the weary middle-ager? What about a person of 50 years of age, give or take a couple of years, who has reached that sobering “Peggy Lee moment” and asks, “Is that all there is?”

What is the Peggy Lee moment?

It’s best summed up in her hit song “Is That All There Is.” It is best described as that time of age a person is deep enough into a career but is wondering if their career has made a difference in the community and in the world around them.

George Carlin made a statement once saying, “The one who dies with the most toys wins.”

It implies that perhaps our life is not as full and meaningful according to society’s standards if we don’t die with more stuff than our neighbors. We feel perhaps increasingly empty to be able to assess the relative value of all we have been investing in life.

What has it cost us physically, emotionally, and spiritually? What has it repaid spiritually and emotionally, not only taking care of their life and their family’s needs?

On the opposite end of life’s sceptrum, what about a person too young to retire, but close enough to see retirement on the far horizon and who begins to wonder afresh about questions of meaning and purpose and value?

We must decide on our own what is ultimate for our life journey and not let society dictate.

We must decide on our own what is precious.

We must decide on our own what is worth savoring, or stopping to smell the roses along life’s journey, and not getting a thorn in one’s hand.

Or me, getting stung by a bee.

According to the scriptures, Psalm 90:10, a person’s life is “three score and 10,” which adds up to about 70 to 80 years.

“The years of our life are 70 and by strength 80,” says the psalmist.

What is the median age for Americans to live?

The median age is 75.8 for males and 81.1 for females to fulfill their life’s ambitions and dreams.

As we seemingly trudge along our life journey, what does the scripture say about not feeling overwhelmed and always looking for potential?

I love a line from Star Trek by James Tiberius Kirk when he says, “I’ve given my life for King and country.”

Basically, he is saying, “I’ve given my all, now leave me alone,” but of course, he does it in the end.

We cannot all be James T. Kirk.

I think God only asks us to do the best that we can as we journey through life. It is society that sets up the standards that we often unfairly judge ourselves by. It is not, “What do I want to do in my life?” But rather, “Who do we want to serve in this life?” (Jesus.)

If we have done that the best we can, then that is all that is required of us.

We have been a good and faithful servant of the kingdom of God and to each other.

The retired Rev. Frank Chlastak began work as senior minister of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Poplar Bluff, in 2015. He is a graduate of Northeast Louisiana University and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and has served congregations of the Christian Church in Louisiana, Arkansas, Virginia, Oklahoma and Missouri.