Strange

April 30, 2019

He was a rather distinguished-looking gentleman, about my own age, judging from his grey hair and closely-clipped beard. When we struck up a conversation in the waiting room, the conversation quite naturally turned to work. “You must be retired,” he said, to which I responded that he was partly right. He asked, and I told him my profession, which caused a slightly lifted eyebrow. “Really? I was a pastor, too. Baptist. Where’d you go to seminary?” When I told him, he said, “I know it. I went to seminary not too far from there.” He gave me his name, which sounded strangely familiar, but when I told him mine, his eyes widened. “We attended the same church and you once had my wife and myself over for dinner.” 

When he moved back to the area to be near family, there weren’t any pastoral opportunities for him, so he did his ministry as a corrections officer in one of the area facilities. He knew of Park church and that I had been there for an unusual length of time for a Methodist pastor. It was soon time for my appointment, so we shook hands and parted company. 

Who’d have guessed? An ordinary day suddenly made extraordinary by a blast from the past and our common faith in Christ. It just goes to show; you never know who you’ll meet at the audiologist’s.