"Never Quite at Home Again"

Another thing the professor counseled me on is in dealing with the pain of the loss of my childhood affiliation. He, too, was raised in a very conservative church. He, too, found himself realizing his "bottom line" and needing to seek a new affiliation that suited his inner church better.

He said, "The thing is, when you are raised in a church, especially the way you were raised, it takes a long time to find a new place to belong. There are lots of good people and good institutions, and eventually you will find some place that is a really good fit. But the truth is, you will never quite feel completely at home again. Every once in a while something will happen, and you will remember, and you will miss what you used to know. There are some things I really miss."
He shrugged. "It's just the way it is."

It was strangely comforting. It helps to know that he knows what it is like.