Losing a Whole Person
![Image](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdHgW32-X1oiQmewt4lazNHInq5hiCYIZ_Tz4TmnE0qdKRyj9xc3wCZkHdfePORJE32SNrLfoJSYqbgb2oV0Oq_wou1ho0f2tXPj_mi2ISxA5sor7_vdvDQ4PTHlk80dDm2Yi0boDd5QY/s1600/Me+Cascades+1999.jpg)
Can you help me out? I seem to have misplaced someone. He shouldn't be too hard to find: he's about my height (maybe half an inch taller), has my face (only clean shaven) and a hairline a few inches lower than mine. His hair, which was once bright red, has darkened over the years, but is now starting to go gray. Other than that, he looks a lot like me. When last seen, he looked very much like the man in this picture: Now here's the hard part: he's been missing for fourteen years. By now, you've almost certainly realized I'm talking about myself. Fourteen years ago this month, I left the United Methodist ministry--though that's not quite the right word for it. It's more like I was pushed. The push was gentle, but it had been going on almost as long as I had been a minister. I can't entirely blame the church for pushing me, either: a good part of the pressure came from inside me, from the realization that this was not the right place for me.