The Pastor
By Asche
Copyright 2015
Chapter 3 -- A Talk With A Psychologist
The pastor couldn't shake the memory of Jesse's bleak look or the conversation on Sunday from his mind. It followed him home, it intruded as he drove in on Monday and again during the planning of the Altar Guild supper. As he planned the program for Wednesday night Bible study, after each item on the program, the memory would intrude.
Finally, on Thursday, he left a message for Dr. Hancock to call him.
"I'm calling about Jesse Taylor, one of your patients," he explained when she called him back.
"You know I'm not allowed to talk about one of my patients without their permission, or, in Jesse's case, his mother's."
"I'm not asking about him in particular. But his mother said you thought he was -- transgender, and I thought I should find out a little more about trangender children. Have you had a lot of them?"
"I've treated a few. And I've spoken with colleagues on occasion. I'd say I know about maybe twenty, either from my practice or my colleagues. I've also attended talks about transgender children and adults at conferences."
"How successful are you at curing them?"
"Reverend Hanley, I haven't tried, but people have tried in the past. The success rate is so low and the outcomes so bad, it's no longer considered ethical. We now simply support the child in whatever he or she--"
"She?"
"Transgender children come in both genders. Trans girls are children who are assigned male at birth but transition to female. Trans boys are children who are assigned female--"
"I get the picture." The idea of girls wanting to be boys was, for reasons the pastor wasn't sure he wanted to think about, even more distressing than the other way around.
"As I was saying, we support the child. Some change their mind on their own. Most don't. In those cases, we help their families and communities learn to accept it."
"And if they don't?"
She sighed. "When they don't -- it's not good. Some run away, or leave as soon as they're able to make it on their own. Others -- the ones I know about, at least -- most of them die. Usually suicide, but sometimes they become alcoholic or drug addicts and die in alcohol or drug-related accidents. Or they engage in risky behavior. Many of the colored trans people end up murdered. The suicide and murder rates -- being murdered, I mean -- are really high."
"And how do you see Jesse turning out?"
"I told you, I can't talk about him with you. You, of all people, should understand that."
"I'm sorry, ma'am, you did explain that. Thank you for speaking with me, you've been very helpful. And you've been very generous with your time. I won't take any more of it. Goodbye."
"Doesn't that mean, 'God be with you'?"
"That it does, ma'am, that it does."
"Well, may God be with you, sir," she said and hung up.
Comments
Here's hoping
that the pastor's compassionate nature - yes, he is reacting to the lad's apparent pain - helps him to reconcile his God view and his urge to help.
Teri Ann
"Reach for the sun."
"Well, may God be with you, sir,"
at least he's looking for information.
The Chapters......
....need to be a little longer and give more info for how the rest of the town feels.
At least he is going out of
At least he is going out of his way to talk to experts and find out things he actually knows nothing about. Too bad so many others do not do that.
I am also wondering how many people today actually know what goodbye means other than something they just say when ending a call or leaving someone?
Bet that would put the majority of "dipped in stone, rigid non-God believers in a real "tizzy fit" if they honestly understood that phrase, and would be demanding an immediate end to using it by everyone.
Then there are others who profess a dis-belief in God or a "I'm not sure either way" attitude, and who would simply not care what it means and would not have, or don't have an issue with it.