My Coming-of-Age UU Chalice Lighting — One year of Retirement

Good Morning,
I'm Kevin Pammett.

It is my honor and privilege to be here Lighting the Chalice (audio) this morning — to share with you my perspective on “It Takes a Village”, and my excitement about how well this community is doing exactly that.

Following Donna's lead from last week, I'm sure it's no surprise that my word for 2020 is Retirement

As many of you know, it started last year for me, and imagine — this Valentine's Day pretty much marked the end of my first year of retirement. And I'm here to tell you it's been a terrific journey!

It is pretty amazing when all of a sudden all of the rules seem to change. Without a 9-5 job, I no longer have many constraints I used to have. I can pretty much do whatever I want. I get to re-establish my daily routines, and spend more time doing things I really enjoy.

One of the things that I've really been enjoying in our Church this year is seeing the youth in the Coming-of-Age program — each standing up and doing their own Chalice Lightings. I find it very inspirational, though I admit that many of them seem like a pretty hard act to follow.

But I have been really identifying with it because, not unlike these brave youth, my Rite of Passage into retirement also has me questioning things like the following, which I also invite you to think about regarding where you are in your life, now:

• How do I fit in, Now? 
• What am I going to spend my time on, Now? 
• What do I really care about, Now? 
• What do I really stand for, Now? 
• Who do I want to spend my time with, Now? 
• Should I be looking for a different mentor, Now? 

As I look out on everyone here, it's clear to me that you don't have to be Coming of Age or going into Retirement in order to be facing these sorts of questions - or even situations far more serious. We are all on that path we call life and none of us knows what's around the next corner. That's exactly why the opportunity for all of us, here, is to fully bring who we are — and what we are dealing with in our lives — to the many different facets of this community.

• This is the place where we can all express ourselves in such a way that people really get who we are.

• Here we surround ourselves with people who actually want to know who we really are.

And to me, THAT is really the magic and the wisdom of this Welcoming and Nurturing community - it is why we are all really here. It is how we take care of one another, and it is the foundation that enables us to Be a Blessing to the World.

I light the Chalice today on behalf of our multi-generational community of loving and compassionate support for one another — through all of the Rites of Passage, and the large as well as the small Transitions in our lives.