Okay, I'd like to chat with you about “The Big Question.” Do I sign the book with my name or do I remain anonymous? Many of you have weighed in already. I've gotten numerous emails on the subject as well.
I'd like to “talk to you” about this during the coming week. I'm going to try to write a little bit each day and share my thoughts with you. I've done a LOT of thinking about this question over the last month or so.
You can comment along the way or wait until later in the week when you know more about what I'm thinking. I have not made up my mind, and I really will be listening to you as I try to decide. For a short time I was pretty sure I was going to sign my name to the book. Then I had second thoughts. I want to thank some of you who have sent very thoughtful emails.
Let me say this to begin:
This is ME writing. I'm the guy who writes with the voice of Real Live Preacher. The Preacher is a character. I didn't set out to create a character. I didn't set out to do anything but write honestly. But the minute I started writing, Real Live Preacher popped out of me. I was as surprised as anyone.
I have been truthful all along the way. The truth is more interesting, and if you tell the truth you never have to cover your tracks. All the people from the stories about our church really exist. Their names are changed, but Evangelina, Pepe, Stan, Carol, Elliot, the Kramers, Chris, Tom, Charlie, the Flower Children, and Joseph all exist. I am the pastor of a small church in Texas, and I do have three daughters.
I think the people who know me see me in Real Live Preacher and see Real Live Preacher in me. But we are not one and the same. There's no surprise in this. I could never capture the complexity that is a real human being in a hundred essays. I choose to write about some parts of my life and choose to keep other parts to myself. Real Live Preacher is a reflection of me, a part of me.
And this:
As decisions go in life, this one isn't that big a deal. I think whatever I decide won't make that much difference. There is no wrong answer. I want to be thoughtful about this, but I'm not worried about it.
And one more thing:
While we are having these conversations, I'm going to give myself the luxurious gift of not polishing what I write very much. I put so much time into crafting my essays. I really don't want to do that right now.
We're just talking here.
me