Latent Lessons
The Spiritual Service of Teaching in a Secular University
There is a discrete moment in the life of an aging person at which “retirement,” previously always a word that applied only to others, becomes relevant to his own existence. Enough years accrue, and one suddenly realizes that the end of his working life has somehow crept substantially closer to the present than the ever-receding start of his career.
This has recently happened to me. Though I am not yet certain precisely when I will retire, that event can nonetheless be discerned with greater clarity now than it could have been even just a few years ago. This has led me to reflect intensely on the meaning of what I do professionally. How best to spend the time remaining to me?
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Alexander T. Riley is a senior fellow at the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization and a member of the board of directors of the National Association of Scholars.
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