Skip to main content

"My Old Kentucky Home"

This weekend I returned to "my old Kentucky home" to officiate a friend's wedding. I've managed to see family and meet my two new 2nd cousins. I've seen other friends from various aspects of my life. I've been to the restaurants that scream Kentucky cooking like no others. I've stopped by my favoritee "head shop," and several other places that I'd considered my "happy places." But as I drove around Lexington, thinking I'd take pictures of the places I'd been I couldn't take the pictures. Seeing places I've lived, worked and studied at it hit me. I used to call Lexington home and would run to it. Lexington is no longer home. It is a place where I have friends and family. It is a place I can visit for a while but it's not home. It was home when I needed it to be home but I've changed and  outgrown Lexington. The energy is gone from  this city that once drew me here. It now repels me. It tells me that staying here would be a retreat to a person that does not honor who I truly am or want to be. So tomorrow I will pack up my car and leave, not sure if or when I'll return. I will be heading towards being the person I'm meant to be. So let it be I pray.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Political vs. Partisan in Preaching

For years now, I have heard in preaching and clergy circles about being political in sermons; the good, the bad and those who state that church shouldn’t be political. There are workshops, books, and podcasts talking about politics in the church with a variety of opinions. What do people mean when they make the statement that the church shouldn’t be political? The IRS has the most say about the rules for the separation of church and state/politics. If your church wants to be tax exempt, there are rules: don’t endorse any candidate or party, if you allow one party to use your space, other political parties also must be allowed to use the space, etc. The UCC’s general counsel, Heather Kimmell, has a webinar on this topic if you’d like to hear a more detailed explanation which can be found on the UCC’s YouTube channel. Churches have gotten “creative” in how to get around this, often partnering with another non-profit group to give support to a particular group. The UCC is proud to claim...

A Day in the Life: A Minister and Forgiveness

 I shared in one of my last blogs that I had complaints lodged against me by a small group in my congregation. Most seem to have moved on after our group meeting, where I apologized for a lot of things - probably more then I should have had too. But I'm the professional in those settings so I did it.  I'm not being told, second hand, that two of those in that meeting want a one on one apology from me because what I said in the meeting wasn't good enough. This is the couple who cursed in my church, have flat out lied about me and have repeatedly stated that the only outcome they're willing to accept is my termination.  Let me explain why I won't be having a one on one meeting with this couple and I won't be giving any more apologies. First, lets start with the apology part. I have apologized for my actions - maybe my misinterpretations is a better term. Based off of their actions and words, I communicated with the proper board/committee and asked for consensus ab...

The Okayist Pastor - Weekly Reflection 6/13/25

The things - the things. As I try to think of how I want to start this post I'm stuck on the words "the things..." Yesterday I had a member come talk to me, who was talking to me on behalf of another member, who had apparently called the vice moderator of the congregation. That's a whole lot of triangulation that I'm not even going to touch on this blog because that's a whole other blog.  I was told that because I had set out the roses for the confirmands on Sunday (because I had to set out their certificates, stoles, robes, and other gifts from the congregation) and I had filled pitchers with water and put them in the refrigerator while I was waiting on people to drop off things to the church so we had cold water for a funeral reception, I was over stepping and had offended a member. This comes flying at me after I had people write formal letters of complaint to my denominations oversight group because I wrote thank you notes last fall to members who returned...