A word about West Virginia

     I don't have thick enough skin to be a real blogger.  Whenever you put words out into the world, it's inevitable that someone will hear them differently than you intended (or perhaps exactly how you intended, but they are unexpectedly hurt or angered).  As a preacher, I certainly know this and realize I can not always be responsible for how my words are heard.  Still, I was bothered to learn that my last thoughts on states' self-esteem had upset at least one West Virginian friend.  Bothered enough to attempt, now, some explanation.

     I wrote this: "West Virginia has one of the lowest self-esteems of any of the 50 states.  You can't even make jokes about West Virginia without feeling like you're kicking a puppy.  West Virginia's the overweight girl hiding behind her hair, off to the left in Chemistry class, praying no one can see her - but she sparkles when she's at home with her family."

And I stand by my analogy.  I would like to clarify, however:

• One's self-esteem is not synonymous with one's actual worth.  That is to say, one's own opinion about one's value, beauty, or talent is not the same as one's actual value, beauty, or talent.  One may hold oneself in either too high or too low esteem.  Therefore, to say that West Virginia has a low self-esteem is not to say that West Virginia isn't a valuable, beautiful, or wonderful place with much to offer.  Rather, West Virginia often underestimates herself.
• Those who know West Virginia well ("her family") know exactly how "she sparkles" - how the fog traps between her hills and clings to the rivers, how the rainbow of fall creeps in and takes your breath away with a thousand shades of fire, how her people are loyal and sometimes wary but warm and willing enough to pull up an extra chair at the family table.
• I wasn't poking fun at West Virginia (I know well the danger of that: "You can't even make jokes about West Virginia...") but at the often ridiculous hubris of Texas.  It really is ridiculous.  

I loved living in West Virginia.  I will no doubt continue to realize all the things I love about West Virginia as I miss them.  And I already plan to take my children back someday in the fall, so they can fall in love with their birthplace.