This was my second-to-the-last sermon here in Stockton. It’s such a bittersweet time. To all my congregants–many, many blessings for your future!
Peace,
Rev. Laura
***
Good Goodbyes
The Rev. Laura Horton-Ludwig, Minister
First Unitarian Universalist Church of Stockton
July 31, 2011
Saying goodbye. One of the hardest things in life.
Many of us never learn how to say goodbye very well.
It’s so much easier to deny,
to pretend it’s not really happening.
When we’re young, on graduation day,
we crack open each other’s brand-new yearbooks
and smell that new-book smell
and write notes saying, “See you soon!”
If we were honest, we might write something like this:
“I don’t know if we’ll see each other again.
I care about you. I wish you well.”
Or say it’s your last day on a job.
Maybe over coffee you say to your coworkers, “Let’s stay in touch,”
but even as the words pass your lips,
you hear how lukewarm they sound.
Maybe you know you don’t mean it,
and you wish you had said what you really meant.
It might be as simple as this:
“I’m glad we’ve gotten to know each other.
I wish you well.”
But instead, so often, we make those shallow promises
we know we’re not going to keep.
Because somehow we think there’s something wrong
with simply saying goodbye. Continue reading
