Claudia and Duffy

Personal Space Invaders

I was sitting in my office yesterday, hard at work on scheduling some disciplinary meetings (woo...) and trying to talk some professors into helping with an event I want to do, and this older couple knocked on the door and walked in. I'll make up a name to protect their privacy, but this is how the conversation went -

(Older gentleman, in a very genteel southern voice) "Hi, mah name is Gerald Miller and this is mah wife Annie (indicating the gorgeous, diminuitive, and dark South American woman by his side). We're missionaries to Guatemala and we work with the Mesquito Indians theyah. Nah the Mesquito Indians do not speak Spanish, and we've had to learn theyah language as we live in the poor rural areas with them and try to increase literacy. Most of the Mesquito Indians only get about a fust-grade education, and weyah tryin' to recruit teachas that'll be willin' to invest theyah lives in these communities. Nah, Ah don't know which buildin' is which around heya, and Ah was wonderin' if you could help me find Doctah Evearett. Ah was told he could help me out when my cah broke down a couple of months ago at the beginnin' of our tahm back in the States. You see, a policewoman pulled ovah behind us to help and she was a nice young lady that had graduated from this college..."

Actually the speech went on for quite a while longer than that before I was allowed to introduce mahsel...I mean myself. They were such a funny couple, and the guy could not quit talking about his vision for these Indians and their education. I ended up traipsing all around campus with them, since Dr. Evearett is retired, and Dr. Drexler wasn't in his office, and I finally got them to someone they could talk to, and "Gerald" proceeded to talk and talk and talk.

It was so strange. They're "not representin' any pahticular denomination," and wanted to know if Covenant had a missions placement program "like Tennessee Temple and Lee told me that they have. Nah, we've just been visitin' the Methodist church down in Trenton that helps support us, but we'ya not interested in ahyaments and fightin' ovah doctrines and rules, as long as we all believe in the savin' powah of Christ. Ah mean, Ah'm a Baptist when it comes down to it, but that's just because it was through the Baptist church that Ah fust came to the Lord and that's what Ah have become comftable with. Nah Ah know that the Presbyterians have often come down to work with the Moravian churches in the area - my wife Annie heya is Moravian - you know they were a church started long long ago that has remained alive in our area though so many of the undaheducated people have embraced the lies of supahstition and pray to the rivah gods as much as they do to the Lord..."

The man went down so many slow, explanatory rabbit trails that I felt like I do when I walk along with a nursing home resident with a walker. There was nothing I could do to speed him up, so we just listened. Eventually I was able to get him out of the office we were in and back down to my office so that I could give him some information on area churches and MTW (which he had requested).

And this is the strange thing. He was such an annoying person in one way, but beautiful in another. He had a newsletter with him that he proudly showed me about the people and the work he's with, and for all his rabbit trails, hick appearance, unnecessary information, and refusal to follow normal rules of conversation, I ended up really delighted with him. His little wife never said a word, and I could not tell anything from her expression or body language, though she had a wonderful smile when we said goodbye. By the end of the 1 1/2 hours or so that I spent listening, I was curiously refreshed and wished them well wholeheartedly.

It certainly takes all kinds of people to make up this world. I think we're going to be surprised when we arrive in heaven together - and I'm going to find Gerald and Annie and thank them for taking me outside of myself so completely for a bit of my busy afternoon.

Posted by tuggy at 10.29.04 17:59