--MYSTERIOUS WAYS ~~

---MORE THAN COINCIDENCE ~~

--THERE was a loud knock at the door of the parsonage. Odd. It was a weekday afternoon, not a time people usually dropped by. We didn't have any church activities scheduled. I was the only one there. Probably parishoner. I opened the door without even asking who it was. Standing before me was a stranger, a hulking man, rough around the edges. "Pastor, I need money," he said. "Can I come inside?"

The parsonage was tucked behind the church in a small yard below street level, surrounded by shade trees. "It's a beautiful day," I said. "Why don't you sit at the picnic table and I'll fetch us some cold water? Then we'll talk."

It wasn't uncommon for transients to find their way to historic Union Congregational Church in Buffalo, Wyoming. Our town had only 4,000 residents, but in the Summer and early Fall that number more than doubled.
Buffalo sat at the junction of two busy interstates, in the foothills of the Big Horn Mountains. Recent years brought all manner of folks looking for work in the booming natural-gas industry. Local churches had developed a program to refer those in need to the police department, who would check them out before we provided vouchers for room and board.

I came outside with two glasses of water and explained the program. The man grew agitated. "I've been on the road for twenty-five years," he declared, his voice rising. "I'm not going to the cops. I need money, and you're gonna give to me!"

I tried to calm him, but he just got more enraged. No one could see me here behind the church. I didn't have any cash to give the man. Who knew what he'd do to me if I tried to run away?

Suddenly, someone came around the corner of the church. A policeman. I bolted behind him. Moments later, five more officers arrived and subdued the stranger.

"You okay?" my hero asked. "We got a 911 hang-up call from the parsonage."

"Impossible," I said. "I'm the only one here, and I didn't make that call."

-The officer smiled. "Well, pastor, somebody certainly did."

--Guideposts/NB