Submitted by harper (not verified) on Tue, 03/18/2008 - 12:57.
I am bi-vocational; a professional storyteller and musician, and a chaplain. This story is achingly familiar. I remember the first time I performed a wedding and no one except the bride and groom talked to me at the reception. People would manuever around me, sort of hiding their drinks...and yet there are times when I feel so grateful for this path;the stories of grief and joy, fear and courage that I have heard. Yeah, life is so strong and amazing too.
Submitted by eric (not verified) on Tue, 03/18/2008 - 13:08.
Wow.
This story really resonated today for some reason. One thing I come away with is a memory... no, many memories... of things I've done, things that seemed funny or harmless or whatever, only to realize the unexpected side-effect can be anything but.
Foy sold his anonymity for a prank, a prank that will inevitably have lasting impact on his life.
I think Gordon has begun a new life... writing fables... stories that seem to entertain but carry a moral or life-message within them.
Okay, he hasn't begun that, he's been doing it a long time!
Maybe how priests feel about being treated differently is a common subject where you live, but I've never seen anything on the subject. I can relate to Foy in this chapter despite being completely outside the religious thing. If I stumbled across this while leafing randomly in a bookstore, I'd buy the book.
Thank you kindly! There's always one or two that I miss.
please be as pedantic as you like. I like finding the typos and getting them straight. I once had a reader find a logical problem with the story. I had Foy drinking coffee and then playing with his straw? Probably because I only drink diet coke. Anyway, I appreciated that catch too.
Submitted by Kristen (not verified) on Tue, 03/18/2008 - 15:23.
Foy is a priest forever, in the order of Melchezidek. Actually, I don't know if that's part of the Episcopal ordination rite, but it should be (it is in the Catholic rite).
Foy is/was Episcopal? (Sorry, I can never keep track of the difference between Episcopal and Episcopalian so I'm not sure which one is right.) I thought he was Baptist and found refuge at an Episcopal(ian?) church during a period when he was considering leaving the ministry but did not.
Episcopal is the Church
An episcopalian is a member of that church. I think.
He was a Baptist minister who did find refuge at an Episcopal church early in his ministry. See the Foy story "Epiphany." But later he left the Baptist Church and became an Episcopalian himself. The church he left in San Antonio was St. Alban's Episcopal. I've not written about what happened during that transition in his life. The story picks up with him leaving an Episcopal church in San Antonio and going to Mardis Gras. Leaving the ministry altogether.
It's a hard timeline to keep up with because there are so many holes in it. From the beginning my plan was to write about points of his life and let the gaps be filled (or not) as I wrote over a period of years.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 03/19/2008 - 17:19.
you are a priest for as long as you want to be. the laws that govern religious life are only applicable to you as long as you keep faith with that religion. to the people in the church he left behind perhaps he will always be a priest but in the end foy has a right to assert his own identity.
Submitted by Kristen (not verified) on Fri, 03/21/2008 - 10:03.
We might be talking past each other a little. I didn't mean "a priest forever" in the sense of "no way of getting out of these rules and regulations" but in the sense of "this is written in you somehow very deeply" -- even if you're no longer in vocational ministry.
I guess I was saying that I'm getting the sense that God is in the process of coming to claim our Foy.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 03/30/2008 - 14:00.
of course, i agree with you on that. i interpreted what you said as being a sense of obligation rather than a permanent mark, which of course the vows of priesthood will leave with you.
in the same way any such intense experience will mark you.
i'd like to think god was coming to claim me too, but i don't. shame perhaps?
Being everything is hard, right? So this has its hard parts and its benefits. I find being a pastor emotionally draining. Very. Perhaps I've not thick enough skin for it.
Who knows. Part of what these stories are is a look at what happens when I stop thinking about what I want to stay and throw myself into the life of my character. I don't even know how much of him is me. Not really. I just breathe deeply, start writing, and let things go.
Submitted by Scott (not verified) on Wed, 03/19/2008 - 04:15.
One thing I've noticed about Gordon, at least as much as I can gather from this venue, is that preaching is part of his world as a pastor. While it might be obvious to some, some minister types distinguish between preaching and pastoring. Preaching is not usually emotionally draining (for me), at least most of the time. Pastoring folks, companioning with them in the midst of their lives, can suck life from you, at times.
Gordan, I certainly can identify with Foy in this instance. Even commenting here about my own life as a pastor brings the feeling of lost anonymity, and nothing could be further from the truth. As a pastor, my greatest desire is for people to be who they are, however they are, whenever they are. I always appreciate your openness and vulnerability. You are who you are without pretense, and it's refreshing.
Submitted by Paul Morgun (not verified) on Wed, 03/19/2008 - 01:01.
Is there going to be a place online or published story of Foy? What I mean is all the stories put together, I mean these parts and the previous ones for those of us that have missed many other parts of his story? Cause I sure would love to read them!
Paul, check the top left menu. There is a Foy Davis archive. It not only lists all the stories, it puts them in a rough timeline of his life. I have two of him in Middle School.
Well, it seems my worries came true; Foy has lost his anonymity. I can really empathize with that, and man that sucks. I wonder how long Foy is going to stay at this job now?
Submitted by Brenda (not verified) on Wed, 03/19/2008 - 07:57.
I'm not even a pastor and I feel for Foy. I can't even imagine what it would be like to be available all the time; once someone finds out you are a priest/pastor. There really is no going back, is there?
Submitted by SingingJoy (not verified) on Wed, 03/19/2008 - 15:21.
This Foy story made me laugh and sigh alternately. I am currently a seminarian who works full-time besides at a military base. There are times when someone has either come in swearing (and boy do they ever in the military) or talking about stupid Christians because of some news story. THEN they apologize every which way to Sunday when they find out who I am/what I do, or when someone else points it out to them. In many cases, it's about "religion is stupid, I don't need religion" and then abject apology to me as a symbol, I guess. There's a definite disconnect in perception and I do feel singled out in those cases.
On the other hand, I can't tell you how many times someone has come into my office "needing a minister." Like Alan, they don't believe, are unchurched or have walked away from church but need to unload because of a crisis (most often) or a joy (less often). I'm the only person remotely like a minister or priest that they know or have access to. I am in the middle of lunch, or working on a project and have to stop, to the point of taking myself off the clock if it takes a while. It comes down to being available to serve, not always on my schedule. I can't not do it; it's a sub-call within the call. Happily, I have a great support system and they know I'll get my work done. It makes for some long workdays, but I can't turn away from these situations.
In school, coming from a tradition that rarely wears a collar, we have discussions about what wearing that collar symbolizes, about showing we are 24/7, ready to serve. Yes, you do give up your anonymity. Then again, there's the strong argument that shirt and tie makes you look like a TV evangelist (we women have the make-up/big hair cross to bear in that regard, or the frump label). But when you don't wear an outward symbol (outside of my cross necklace), when you're not sitting in a church, are there other things that show you are willing to serve? Is Foy serving a different pastorate? Do I show I'm willing to serve by walking around my desk and sitting next to the person talking? I guess it's about responding to humanity and not trying to gloss over or wash away that which makes us human....
This reminds me of a time when the Afropop band I was in played with Ebenezer Obey, a famous Nigerian musician. At some point during practice, I had a question or suggestion or something, and I opened with "Ebenezer--"
Everybody fell silent.
After a moment, he said "You call me Chief."
I didn't know he was supposed to be called that. Where I come from, we call each other by name, and generally by first name.
I think when people get self-conscious around religious authority figures--or, at least, when I do--it's just that they don't know what's going to call down that moment of silence.
Did I just state something really obvious? This isn't familiar territory for me.
Submitted by SingingJoy (not verified) on Thu, 03/20/2008 - 14:23.
I meant to add one more thing to my previous comment: I don't know if I could dress as a minister at work for joking purposes. It seems -- I don't know, disrespectful or something. I was asked to do so for Halloween and I couldn't. So many people dress up like the Devil on Halloween that I can just hear the comments about me standing there in collar. As a seminarian, it's probably a no-no anyway, although I've seen the rules bent in times of crisis.
All in all, though, because it was fiction, the joke Foy participated in was pretty funny. But in real life, it might lead to something else. Who knows, maybe a Peter-type might want to talk afterwards!
secret powers
I am bi-vocational; a professional storyteller and musician, and a chaplain. This story is achingly familiar. I remember the first time I performed a wedding and no one except the bride and groom talked to me at the reception. People would manuever around me, sort of hiding their drinks...and yet there are times when I feel so grateful for this path;the stories of grief and joy, fear and courage that I have heard. Yeah, life is so strong and amazing too.
Thanks, Gordon.
secret powers
Wow.
This story really resonated today for some reason. One thing I come away with is a memory... no, many memories... of things I've done, things that seemed funny or harmless or whatever, only to realize the unexpected side-effect can be anything but.
Foy sold his anonymity for a prank, a prank that will inevitably have lasting impact on his life.
I think Gordon has begun a new life... writing fables... stories that seem to entertain but carry a moral or life-message within them.
Okay, he hasn't begun that, he's been doing it a long time!
Nice story
Thank you, Gordon.
Your blog is a welcome and human break in my office work day.
By the way, you have a smudge of spam in the last comment of Part 1.
Dang spam. After all this
Dang spam. After all this work to get a system in place. Oh well, it's just the occasional bit now. I zapped it.
thanks for the alert.
Interesting how you're using
Interesting how you're using those gray boxes.
Maybe how priests feel about being treated differently is a common subject where you live, but I've never seen anything on the subject. I can relate to Foy in this chapter despite being completely outside the religious thing. If I stumbled across this while leafing randomly in a bookstore, I'd buy the book.
Proof reading
I don't want to own up to being this pedantic, but here's a couple of things to fix if you want to catch 'em all :)
Thank you kindly! There's
Thank you kindly! There's always one or two that I miss.
please be as pedantic as you like. I like finding the typos and getting them straight. I once had a reader find a logical problem with the story. I had Foy drinking coffee and then playing with his straw? Probably because I only drink diet coke. Anyway, I appreciated that catch too.
Foy is a priest forever, in
Foy is a priest forever, in the order of Melchezidek. Actually, I don't know if that's part of the Episcopal ordination rite, but it should be (it is in the Catholic rite).
Foy is/was Episcopal? (Sorry, I can never keep track of the difference between Episcopal and Episcopalian so I'm not sure which one is right.) I thought he was Baptist and found refuge at an Episcopal(ian?) church during a period when he was considering leaving the ministry but did not.
Episcopal is the Church An
Episcopal is the Church
An episcopalian is a member of that church. I think.
He was a Baptist minister who did find refuge at an Episcopal church early in his ministry. See the Foy story "Epiphany." But later he left the Baptist Church and became an Episcopalian himself. The church he left in San Antonio was St. Alban's Episcopal. I've not written about what happened during that transition in his life. The story picks up with him leaving an Episcopal church in San Antonio and going to Mardis Gras. Leaving the ministry altogether.
It's a hard timeline to keep up with because there are so many holes in it. From the beginning my plan was to write about points of his life and let the gaps be filled (or not) as I wrote over a period of years.
you are a priest for as long
you are a priest for as long as you want to be. the laws that govern religious life are only applicable to you as long as you keep faith with that religion. to the people in the church he left behind perhaps he will always be a priest but in the end foy has a right to assert his own identity.
if god wants him, god can come and claim him.
We might be talking past
We might be talking past each other a little. I didn't mean "a priest forever" in the sense of "no way of getting out of these rules and regulations" but in the sense of "this is written in you somehow very deeply" -- even if you're no longer in vocational ministry.
I guess I was saying that I'm getting the sense that God is in the process of coming to claim our Foy.
of course, i agree with you
of course, i agree with you on that. i interpreted what you said as being a sense of obligation rather than a permanent mark, which of course the vows of priesthood will leave with you.
in the same way any such intense experience will mark you.
i'd like to think god was coming to claim me too, but i don't. shame perhaps?
I see SO much of you in this
I see SO much of you in this story, or at least I think I do, I mean some stuff is obvious: the book, daughters, wife named Jenny...
all of that to ask: is being a preacher really that hard? Is it hard to face overly polite people, or have to drop everything to counsel somebody?
I imagine its something like being a celebrity...
Being everything is hard,
Being everything is hard, right? So this has its hard parts and its benefits. I find being a pastor emotionally draining. Very. Perhaps I've not thick enough skin for it.
Who knows. Part of what these stories are is a look at what happens when I stop thinking about what I want to stay and throw myself into the life of my character. I don't even know how much of him is me. Not really. I just breathe deeply, start writing, and let things go.
One thing I've noticed about
One thing I've noticed about Gordon, at least as much as I can gather from this venue, is that preaching is part of his world as a pastor. While it might be obvious to some, some minister types distinguish between preaching and pastoring. Preaching is not usually emotionally draining (for me), at least most of the time. Pastoring folks, companioning with them in the midst of their lives, can suck life from you, at times.
Gordan, I certainly can identify with Foy in this instance. Even commenting here about my own life as a pastor brings the feeling of lost anonymity, and nothing could be further from the truth. As a pastor, my greatest desire is for people to be who they are, however they are, whenever they are. I always appreciate your openness and vulnerability. You are who you are without pretense, and it's refreshing.
Scott
I love the Foy stories,
I love the Foy stories, Gordon. I think more of us than like to admit it struggle with our identity the way he does.
Story of Foy book? ebook?
Is there going to be a place online or published story of Foy? What I mean is all the stories put together, I mean these parts and the previous ones for those of us that have missed many other parts of his story? Cause I sure would love to read them!
Paul, check the top left
Paul, check the top left menu. There is a Foy Davis archive. It not only lists all the stories, it puts them in a rough timeline of his life. I have two of him in Middle School.
nice!
Excellent my printer is going to have a work out!
Well, it seems my worries
Well, it seems my worries came true; Foy has lost his anonymity. I can really empathize with that, and man that sucks. I wonder how long Foy is going to stay at this job now?
Ooohhh
I'm not even a pastor and I feel for Foy. I can't even imagine what it would be like to be available all the time; once someone finds out you are a priest/pastor. There really is no going back, is there?
Great story!
Brenda
Neither am I, Brenda. I was
Neither am I, Brenda. I was talking about certain abilities and experiences that I seem to be known for.
Were you in my office yesterday?
This Foy story made me laugh and sigh alternately. I am currently a seminarian who works full-time besides at a military base. There are times when someone has either come in swearing (and boy do they ever in the military) or talking about stupid Christians because of some news story. THEN they apologize every which way to Sunday when they find out who I am/what I do, or when someone else points it out to them. In many cases, it's about "religion is stupid, I don't need religion" and then abject apology to me as a symbol, I guess. There's a definite disconnect in perception and I do feel singled out in those cases.
On the other hand, I can't tell you how many times someone has come into my office "needing a minister." Like Alan, they don't believe, are unchurched or have walked away from church but need to unload because of a crisis (most often) or a joy (less often). I'm the only person remotely like a minister or priest that they know or have access to. I am in the middle of lunch, or working on a project and have to stop, to the point of taking myself off the clock if it takes a while. It comes down to being available to serve, not always on my schedule. I can't not do it; it's a sub-call within the call. Happily, I have a great support system and they know I'll get my work done. It makes for some long workdays, but I can't turn away from these situations.
In school, coming from a tradition that rarely wears a collar, we have discussions about what wearing that collar symbolizes, about showing we are 24/7, ready to serve. Yes, you do give up your anonymity. Then again, there's the strong argument that shirt and tie makes you look like a TV evangelist (we women have the make-up/big hair cross to bear in that regard, or the frump label). But when you don't wear an outward symbol (outside of my cross necklace), when you're not sitting in a church, are there other things that show you are willing to serve? Is Foy serving a different pastorate? Do I show I'm willing to serve by walking around my desk and sitting next to the person talking? I guess it's about responding to humanity and not trying to gloss over or wash away that which makes us human....
Excellent as always, Gordon!
This reminds me of a time
This reminds me of a time when the Afropop band I was in played with Ebenezer Obey, a famous Nigerian musician. At some point during practice, I had a question or suggestion or something, and I opened with "Ebenezer--"
Everybody fell silent.
After a moment, he said "You call me Chief."
I didn't know he was supposed to be called that. Where I come from, we call each other by name, and generally by first name.
I think when people get self-conscious around religious authority figures--or, at least, when I do--it's just that they don't know what's going to call down that moment of silence.
Did I just state something really obvious? This isn't familiar territory for me.
And one more thing...
I meant to add one more thing to my previous comment: I don't know if I could dress as a minister at work for joking purposes. It seems -- I don't know, disrespectful or something. I was asked to do so for Halloween and I couldn't. So many people dress up like the Devil on Halloween that I can just hear the comments about me standing there in collar. As a seminarian, it's probably a no-no anyway, although I've seen the rules bent in times of crisis.
All in all, though, because it was fiction, the joke Foy participated in was pretty funny. But in real life, it might lead to something else. Who knows, maybe a Peter-type might want to talk afterwards!
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