45.1 F
Spokane
Monday, March 31, 2025
spot_img
HomeNewsMeet Andy. Observer. Musician. Columnist.

Meet Andy. Observer. Musician. Columnist.

Date:

Related stories

Photo Essay: Spokane Trans Day art show draws big crowd

The Trans Day of Visibility Art Show at Spokane Public Library yesterday showcased diverse trans art, fostering community and support with over 200 attendees.

Ask an Evangelical: Why did God send Jesus Christ to die for us?

In this Ask an Evangelical column, the reader asks why did God send his son, Jesus, to die for us. This answer centers on blood, perfect sacrifices and the need for atonement.

Spokane migrant detained by ICE back with family

Spokane migrant reflects on his 45 days in an ICE detention facility, recalling its rigid structure. He said the government's treatment of immigrants is an "honest concern" but it is being done in a "brutal and inhumane" way.

FāVS Religion News Roundup: March 28

Washington clergy may be mandatory reporters of child abuse, advocacy group hosts a forum on reproductive justice, Mead School District leans toward federal trans policies and more in this week's FāVS Religion News Roundup.

Idaho Legislature widely approves child sex abuse death penalty bill

Idaho Legislature approves adding child sex abuse to first-degree murder charges for the death penalty bill. If passed into law, the bill takes effect July 1.

Our Sponsors

spot_img

Meet Andy. Observer. Musician. Columnist.

This giving season we’ve been introducing you to the columnists you read everyday on SpokaneFāVS.com. Their words are making a difference in Spokane, and we hope you’ll be inspired to support our work of building community and bridging divisions by making a gift to FāVS today!

By Matthew Kincanon

Andy Pope is a columnist for SpokaneFāVS and musician who wrote the musical score “Eden in Babylon” while homeless.

It all began in 2004 after a costly misdiagnosis regarding his mental health took a toll on him, he explained. Medications that were intended to help him led him to making erratic decisions. Between October 2003 and May 2004, Pope lost everything, including $50,000 annual income and the $13,000 he had in his bank account.

“My health didn’t improve till I ditched the pills, but unfortunately I’d already lost everything by that time,” he said.

For about seven years, Pope would land-and-lose living situations, not being able to hang on to them for one reason or another. Then, on April 15, 2011, Pope became “homeless by choice” and joined an intentional homeless community in Berkeley, California.

Because he couldn’t afford to live alone and couldn’t handle living with other people, homelessness became his preferred lifestyle for the next five years. It was during that time he wrote the score for his musical.

However, as he aged, Pope said the lifestyle became more difficult. On July 27, 2016, Pope got off a bus in Moscow, Idaho, and began a new life. He has not gone back to California or to the streets since then. The one thing that changed was the cost of rent.

The one-bedroom apartment in Idaho cost him less than $500. The same kind of apartment would cost him $3,000 in the San Francisco Bay area. He would still be homeless if he lived in California right now, he said.

Being homeless completely changed his worldview. What homelessness did for him, sitting on a sidewalk and observing the conversations of those who lived indoors, was provide him with a transcendence of the Left-Right model.

“No matter how badly we all disagree with each other on this planet, I think we should first mutually figure out how not to destroy ourselves, and then take it from there.,” Pope said. “Every column I have posted on FāVS has in some way been informed by my homeless experience. Homelessness has a way of changing one’s life-priorities.”

Pope added he is much less attached to mainstream American values and societal expectations than he was before he was homeless. 

“Homelessness is THE greatest gift that God has ever given me,” he said.

Pope got involved with SpokaneFāVS after hearing Tracy Simmons speak at a theology group. He said he was really impressed with her story and wanted to get involved with SpokaneFāVS immediately.

Pope said SpokaneFāVS is a great way for people of all kinds of different worldviews to present their positions peaceably and get along with each other in the process. 

“I’ve never encountered a forum before where people from such diverse walks of spiritual life can coalesce,” he said. “I’m honored to be able to air my views on FāVS.”

He said people should be drawn toward SpokaneFāVS because of its uniqueness and potential to positively impact its readers.

Will you make a financial gift to FāVS today? Because joining us in building community and bridging divisions is making the Inland Northwest a better place.

$
USD
Please enter an amount between $1-$100,000.
Matthew Kincanon
Matthew Kincanon
Matthew Kincanon is a communications coordinator with a journalism and political science degree from Gonzaga University. His journalism experience includes the Gonzaga Bulletin, The Spokesman-Review, Art Chowder, Trending Northwest, Religion Unplugged and FāVS News. He loves being a freelancer for FāVS because, having been born and raised in Spokane, he wants to learn more about the various religious communities and cultures in his hometown, especially Indigenous communities.

Our Sponsors

spot_img
spot_img
spot_img
0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest


0 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
spot_img
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x