2017 Spring/Summer Magazine: The Big Question

WM asked our readers: How do you take care of yourself 

physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually?

Just before I turned 60 I began  high jumping again. 

 

I had not taken a single jump since my last Wabash track meet 

38 years earlier. I was shocked to find my jumps were about 1½ feet lower than my best at Wabash (6’ 8”).

 

To redeem my self-respect I joined a gym, worked out 

frequently, changed my eating habits, and began competing in Masters track meets year-round. 

 

By the time I retired at age 66, I felt better than I had in the previous 20-plus years.  

 

Just as we needed to train to attain our athletic goals at 

Wabash, we now need to stay “in training” to achieve an even more important goal: living a high-quality life during our most vulnerable period, which we reluctantly call aging. 

 Masters athletic programs are now quite popular. Last year we 

had our first 100-year-old high jumper!  

 

DAVID MONTIETH ’67

Ridgefield, CT

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I practice the ancient, sacred art of beekeeping.  

I have 12 hives in my apiary on my small hobby farm near Lapel, IN, where we harvest between 300 and 500 pounds of honey each year. 

My family got interested in the hobby after reading about colony collapse disorder and the devastating plight of the bees. 

Bees are the only nonpredatory organism: They don’t prey on or harm any living thing, and yet all life is dependent on them for sustenance and survival because bees pollinate one out of every three bites of food we eat. There is something sacred and profound in that for me and 
my family. How might we live with the least harm and smallest carbon footprint to the environment around us, and at the same time how might we contribute to abundant life and flourishing of life around us?

For me, the beehive is a spiritual metaphor for the early Christian community; it encourages me to mentally slow down and pay attention to the little things and my interdependence on all of life.

Being outside with the bees is physically life-giving for me. 

LIBBY MANNING,  
Associate Director,  
Wabash Pastoral Leadership Program

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Though I am slowed down a little by Parkinson’s disease, I still get a thrill from art.
My wife and friends are convinced that my passion for art is what is keeping me going. Every day I try to do some sketching or painting. I search the Internet for new artists and study their paintings. I read art history and try to understand what artists were doing, and still are doing, to relate to their times. I also enjoy creative writing in the form of memoirs and short stories and have written some plays that we have read on the stage here.

DON SCHOLZ ’40 
Northbrook, IL

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I sing!
Making music is  
good for the soul!

DANTON GRUBE '72

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Photography has turned into my method for 
"stopping to smell the roses.”

At 49, I’ve never felt better physically, emotionally, or spiritually. A late bloomer, I guess. My wonderful wife and kids keep me grounded emotionally. Living and working in Haiti keeps me challenged and growing spiritually. 

STEVE GROSS ’90 
Preacher, missionary, and English teacher, Cap Haïtien, Haiti
Albany, MN

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