The Pastor
By Asche
Copyright 2015
Chapter 9 -- Fourth Advent Sunday
Sunday morning found the pastor in his study. He was still struggling with the sermon he'd have to deliver in about two hours. He knew he wanted to say something about Jesus having come into the world a nobody born to two nobodies, but he hadn't been able to get any further. He heard a knock on the door.
"Come on in." It wasn't like he had any train of thought that they'd be interrupting.
The door opened to show Ms. Taylor and Jesse -- no, Jessica. Jessica had on a long red velour dress with what looked like a taffeta bodice in a Christmas plaid, a hairband holding back her hair, and a smile that was so big it barely fit on her face.
"Mrs. Hanley was so nice, she found me this pretty, Christmas-y dress to wear. Isn't it pretty?" she gushed. She was playing with her hands and shifting from one foot to the other.
He couldn't help smiling in return. "Yes, it's really pretty. It's so pretty, I'll bet all the girls will be jealous," he teased.
"Momma says nobody will be able to see it under my choir robes. But I'll know I'm wearing it, and Momma will know, and now you will know," she giggled as she hung on her mother's wrist and wiggled around. Her mother whispered something to her. "Oh, Reverend, this is for you." She took something from her mother's hand and solemnly walked up to his desk and handed it to him.
It was a little angel Christmas ornament, with a cone made out of red construction paper for a robe, a styrofoam ball with a painted face for a head, yellow yarn for hair, and pipe-cleaner arms holding sheet music made of a scrap of white paper, and another pipe-cleaner for a halo.
"You can put it on your Christmas tree," she informed him.
"Thank you," he said to her and she beamed.
"Time for choir practice," said her mother. Jessica turned and skipped towards the door. When she reached it, she turned around and gave a little wave and said "goodbye!" before disappearing down the hall, singing "Oh Little Town of Bethlehem" in a high voice. Her mother shrugged and trotted after her. The pastor closed the door and went back to his sermon writing.
Later on, as he stood in church watching the children's choir process up to their seats, followed by the adult choir, he could see a little bit of red below the hem of Jesse's -- no, Jessica's -- robe, and he -- she still had the hairband on. He wondered if he'd have to deal with some pointed remarks later. But he could see Jessica's angelic face and hear her singing her heart out, and he could almost hear a voice saying, "well done," though he wasn't sure if the voice was talking to him or to Jessica.
He still hadn't written a sermon, so he was going to have to wing it for the first time in his life. He said a silent prayer to the Lord to give him the right words -- actually, any words at all -- when the time came.
The sermon hymn finished, and he still didn't know what he was going to say. He stood at the pulpit, no notes on the lecturn. He turned, saw Jesse's -- no, Jessica's -- smiling face looking at him. He opened his mouth and began to speak.
Later, the pastor couldn't exactly remember what he'd said. He had the idea he'd tied in a dozen Bible verses about how to treat the poor, the outcasts, the lepers, the lowliest of the low. He might have preached about "of such is the Kingdom of Heaven." But it was fuzzy in his mind. The only think he remembered clearly was seeing Jessica's -- yes, Jessica's face -- looking at him as he spoke. And when he sat down and the choir sang, among all the children and all the grownups, he could somehow clearly hear Jessica's sweet voice, singing like an angel from Heaven.
The End
Comments
The End
Yes, this is the end of the story.
I know some people were hoping it would go on to detail Jessica's reception by the community, but my intention all along was simply to bring the pastor to the point where he accepts her, like in KT Leone's story. This is the only story I've written with a specific plan in mind (most just start off and I don't know where they're going until after I written them), and it's a lot harder! The muse got me this far without (I hope!) making too many obvious errors and has taken off her shoes and put her feet up and is taking a well-deserved break.
I appreciate so many people reading it and commenting on it. There are lots of little details that I like but didn't notice until after writing them, but I don't know if anyone else caught them. Like any proud parent, I can't really believe that anyone really appreciates my "child" quite the way I do.
FWIW, I've got another story that's mostly done, just needs another chapter or two and some cleaning up, but it's a lot longer (52 chapters so far), so I'm not sure exactly how I'll roll it out. (A chapter a day could get a little tedious.)
Works well too.
And ended on a note that brought a tear forth. It wasn't sad, so I don't know why. Thank your muse for us, will you Asche?
"Reach for the sun."
The Pastor's Job
... from this point on is to bring the rest of the world around. He needs to learn/understand the reality behind what being gender variant is all about. Nice story.
Portia
very nice ending
thank you for sharing this story. As a Christian who is also trans, it meant a lot to me.
What a nice ending to this
What a nice ending to this story. Perhaps we shall see Jessica and the Pastor later in her life?
A very good story
Thanks for sharing it.
You make the pastor's change of heart believable and that's what you wanted.
Gillian Cairns
You did a great job.
I'm sad you chose to end it here, but then again I'm not. I look forward to more of your stories.
***
I still wonder why some Christians have so much trouble with things like this. It's not like there are so many odd balls in the world that just ignoring us, letting us live our lives in peace, would make a difference in their lives.
Some of us want to force them to behave as if they accept us. That is just as wrong as them wanting to force us to behave as if we are not different. They have a right to not like us. They (Christians or Muslims or whatever) have a right to not invite us to supper - a right to not do business with us. (It's called 'freedom of association'. Individuals have this right. Governmental bodies do not - they are obligated to treat all citizens equally. You may have noticed that politicians don't always live up to this.)
They (Christians etc.) do not have a right to force *their neighbor* to not eat with us or not do business with us. Remember Jim Crow?
Yeah, they did it - still do to some extent. Rather than take the gun (The Law) from them and point it back at them, we should take the gun and drop it in a well.
Solving a problem by repealing a bad law is always better than solving it by passing another bad law.
T
Christianity and transgender
Interesting story of a pastor learning about transgender children.
I'm not sure where should I post this, so I'm posting it here:
I have an idea for a possible story: Some religious parents that believe that homosexuality is a sin and most transgender people are really confused cisgender people have an intersex child. They refuse to "correct" the "problem" because God had made the child that way. They say that only God has the right to choose the gender of the child and if His choice is not clear they should wait until it becomes clear.
Do you think this idea could be turned into a good story? The parents could learn more about trans people while trying to learn what to do with their intersex child.
epain
The bigots and hate will never change
I spent too many years learning lessons of life, wasting my time trying to educate those who refuse to understand. Finally I realized it wasn't the bigots and hate mongers who needed to learn and change, it was "ME". It is neither here nor there and again, people who are locked into their own concepts and ideology of what is and what isn't, refuse to accept what they don't want to understand.
I do NOT speak for God. I speak of and about God and the things I have learned from Him. I have NOT been anointed spokes person for God. That is the title for the Holy Ghost.
Transgender are God's children the same as all others. What they do or don't do with their lives is usually three things.
1: how deep the transgender emotional drive goes
2: their financial status and can they afford the meds, the surgeries, the possible alienation of family, friends, loss of job
3: their self esteem, are they able to pull above all the negative hate mongering they will receive if they aren't that attractive, beautiful, girl or acceptable boy
Transgender is more than emotions and feelings. We aren't talking about cross dressing but a physical lock in the gender opposite of what is on their birth certificate. Science and research has born out they have the physical mind of the gender they desire to be which doesn't match the body they were assigned. Even years later, most doctors and psychiatrists refuse to accept the research done by many different labs. The general public has never heard or read of same research. Sadly most believe it is a "mental" problem. Well, they got it part way right. It is a mental problem but truly physical development at birth with a brain not matched to their physical body.
You want answers about whether God loves and accepts transgender? Ask Him.
Or ask someone who has died and returned. Maybe they didn't speak specifically about transgender but I can promise they know. "God doesn't make no junk." How one accepts them self and others speaks volumes.
Have fun with life. If it gets too much to bare poke it with a sharp stick. I do. It's a heck of a rush to realize the truth. Did I really make a difference or was I delusional thinking I counted in the grand scheme of things?
always,
Barb
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
What a tearjerker, loved this
Sure the ending was abrupt, thought it would run to the Christmas sermon, but this was perfect; all tied up in a red bow. One to add to my Christmas favorites. Thank you for an excellent start to my day.
>>> Kay