I’m back! That is to say, I’m turning my attention to GNUUC after several weeks of attending to family and personal matters, because I am still here, in Kentucky. But even though I’m a few hours away, my heart is with you, each of you, and Nashville feels like a “home” I shall return to.

I’m excited that the Board has asked me to stay on for another year. At the same time, I feel anxious and uncertain. In other words, I feel just like everyone else, not knowing what to expect nor how to meet each day.

Ministry of 25 years (as of June 4th, which I would have celebrated at our General Assembly had there been a General Assembly) did not prepare me for a pandemic, for long-distance pastoral care, for Zoom worship and online meetings, and for working in my bedroom/office.

A photo taken by my father in the 1920s. I found my way to these docks and had a seafood dinner. How curious, to be in the very place your forbears lived and worked and loved and died. “The Docks at Watchapreague” (a very small fishing town on the E… — A photo taken by my father in the 1920s. I found my way to these docks and had a seafood dinner. How curious, to be in the very place your forbears lived and worked and loved and died. “The Docks at Watchapreague” (a very small fishing town on the Eastern shore of VA)

I want you to tell me what you’d like to see me do more of. I’ve been spending a great deal of my time reading, studying, and preparing. I’ve also been maintaining a spiritual practice with some new elements that I hope to share with you. I’ve made numerous contacts and attended several meetings a week with interfaith groups in Nashville.

I think of all of you more than you probably realize. Please let me know if you’d like to chat and we will set up a call. Going forward, I will have open office hours when you can call and talk with me about anything from church matters to questions of faith and meaning. I may not have the answers, but I can listen, and I know how to help you find the answers that you probably already have.

This past week, feeling stir-crazy after more than four months at home, I decided to drive to the home place of my paternal ancestors. My dad died 25 years ago (yes, two months before I was ordained) and he left no clues about his family, other than a few vague remarks about how he spent his summers and a handful of photographs. I knew much more about my mother’s people, even though I barely recall her. But on my leave time, I got back into digging around through the Cain family as well as the McAllister, Purnell, Gillis, Outten, and Hammonds, all of whom lived in a very circumscribed place on a peninsula called the Eastern shore. These people were some of the original settlers, arriving in the 1600s, and fought in both the Revolutionary and Civil Wars (Union.) Dad spent all his summers there. I realized that it was a second “home” to him because it had determined so much of his loves, from carving decoys to making clam chowder and sweet potato pie.

I decided to make a visit, since the virus wasn’t bad there, and I’d mostly be walking in cemeteries, and spend some time following up on leads. It was fascinating, exciting, and foolish! After four days, I had a scratchy throat. I immediately concluded that I had coronavirus. It went away (probably allergies) but a hurricane warning followed, and I left early, driving home in one afternoon. I will go back, someday. For now, I’m home, this KY home, happy to be planning for our shared ministries, and scheduled for a CV test tomorrow!

I love you all very much, and I am so grateful to be working with you a while longer. Let’s get into some good trouble.

Cynthia

August 5, 2020: Home is Where Your Heart Is.