Reverend Ref +

"WE HAVEN'T HAD THIS MUCH EXCITEMENT SINCE . . . ."

Well, that's not exactly true. I mean, there was the day several months ago when two cars collided downtown. The accident tied up at least four other cars for several minutes; the six southbound vehicles had to be rerouted around the block; and the eleven northbound vehicles were slowed to a crawl as they negotiated between the accident and the parked cars. This was big-time stuff here; I mean, even the cop showed up for this one. Now that was excitement.

Today, however, was . . . if not exciting, then surprising.

First, there was Brother Ken, a travelling preacher-type guy who (according to him) wanders up and down the Rockies from Canada to Mexico and back again spreading the Word of God. More on the conservative/fundamental end of the spectrum than I, but generally a nice guy. Soft-spoken, no fire and brimstone here, and willing to listen to different points of view while politely telling me where I was being misled. We had a nice little chat, then I bought him lunch and paid for his motel room.

About 2:30, I saw an older gentleman walking around the church towards my office. People usually don't know which door to use, and when they guess they tend to guess wrong. So I went out to meet this guy. Turns out that he's from the Gideons and was wondering if I would be amenable to letting them speak at church one Sunday. I took a look at my calendar and noticed that the week before May 1 I have a Vestry meeting, a couple of play practices, a deanery meeting and an all-day workshop up in Helena. I predict very little sermon activity that week.

"How about May 1?" I asked. He was free, so I now have a date with the Gideons on May 1.

Things have been hopping at the local Episcopal church today. As I write this from the library, I wonder if I should go back to the office or just take the rest of the day off.