Going back home; it is time for healing and heroics

I have some very good news for people here who dislike and hate me.

I'm preparing to leave.

God and Our Lady of Guadalupe are calling me home, to the region of the country where I grew up. I have no ties to Nashville and Tennessee. I love the people here, but I really don't respect the vision-less politics, particularly in Nashville.

Besides, there are much bigger things. People who look like me are being treated even worse than here in Nashville back home. Someone with a lot of money and time and prayer is needed to go back and fight for these human beings. Here I am, Lord.

How God and Our Lady will ask me to wage the battle has not been revealed to me. But they are calling me home, somewhere in the region of the nation where I once was so young and inspired.

I will miss a lot of people here who make a difference. I could list them here, but I would be afraid of leaving someone out. I will most especially miss Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church on Nolensville Road, which Friday celebrates its first year anniversary. I am proud of the amount of money I raised for it ttand the fact that a memorial to my mother and her three sisters stands inside the temple.

Besides, this miracle is now secure, thanks to Father Joe Pat Breen solely, with no help from the diocese or bishop.

I really like the people of Tennessee. There is such a direct goodness to them, even if the anti-immigrant fervor has found too much support among the most vocal. I also liked the people of New York where I worked for four years as an editorial page editor and a nationally syndicated columnist. I grew to love snow eight months of the year and summers of 70-degree weather and 45 degrees on the Fourth of July.

But going home sounds so good to me. Being with people who are of my blood and love me and will have my back is so appealing. And new friends and family have stepped forward to champion me.

I no longer have any family here. My wounds are so deep that I can hardly breathe. I deserve them. But everyone, even the worst person, deserves some healing. And so in that vein, I seek it with all my heart and soul.

I wish Tennessee and Nashville well. But the past three years here have taken just too much of a toll. I've asked the great bishop of the Little Rock diocese for direction and prayer. He'll play a major role in where I end up and how my role will be manifested in making a difference.

My soul aches for healing and new inspiration, to fight the good fight for those who cannot.