Unrushing

About twenty years ago, I walked into a church for the first time in years. I was going through something of a spiritual crisis and wasn’t sure what I believed anymore. Standing there, I found myself thinking about a man I’d heard about through a mutual friend. We’d never met, and I knew almost nothing about him. The only thing that had stayed with me was that he had once met the Pope, I had even seen a photograph of the occasion. 

What intrigued me was how he could be a young professional, a politician, apparently gay, yet so deeply connected to the Church and such a devoted Catholic. I remember wondering how those parts of his life fit together, especially at a time when I was struggling with my own relationship with religion. 

Then, completely out of nowhere, the church doors opened. 

Almost instinctively, I turned around. 

Standing there was the very man I’d been thinking about only moments before. 

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. My mouth literally fell open, and I think I even gasped. He noticed my reaction immediately, and our eyes met. Even now, all these years later, I can still remember the chills that ran through my body. Perhaps it was because I was in a church, but the whole moment felt strangely significant. 

He quietly took a seat to pray, while I, completely overwhelmed, walked back outside. 

A few moments later, he followed me and asked, “Have we met before?” 

I had no idea how to answer. I couldn’t explain who I was or why I knew of him without sounding completely irrational. All I managed to say was that I’d reacted the way I had because I’d been thinking about him just before he walked through the door. 

Naturally, that only raised more questions. 

Questions I couldn’t answer. 

After an awkward pause, I simply wished him well and walked away, leaving him standing there on the pavement. 

I’ve thought about that encounter many times over the years. 

To this day, I still don’t know what to make of it. 

Was it simply an extraordinary coincidence? Or was it something more? Will I ever know?