Retirement Party Remarks (part 2)

So: Going back to the Torah: What’s the Promised Land?
Like Moses (I’m not planning on dying though) passing the mantle of leadership to Joshua, I can see the land but I can’t tell you exactly what it is.
I’m not sure… but I believe that you and my successor can go there.

Which leads to my second thought:
Give the new rabbi whoever he or she is a chance to succeed
Whether you’re definitely staying, definitely leaving, or have left a while ago… Please
1) Check out my successor
2) And please: find a way to support this community
I am not this community, only its spiritual leader for 1/3 of its existence and hopefully within a month there will be a new vision and articulation of what our community is striving for

So I was thinking: who could be a Role Model for a last sermon?
Preached a couple of years ago: Mitch Albom’s: Have A Little Faith
Rabbi Al Lewis was one of my homiletics’ teachers at Seminary
pg 210
"He could have used the occasion to reflect on his accomplishemnts. Instead he asked forgiveness. He apologized for notbeing able to save more marriage, for not visitn gthe homebound more, for not easing more pain of parents who hd lost a child, for not having more oney to help families in econoimc ruin. He apologized to teenagers with whom he didn't spend enought time teaching."
My top two: apologies for all the follow up phone calls to sick or grieving / thank you notes that should have been written that just never got mailed. That’s my next to the last thought.