[Magdalen] the weirdest yet

[ME Michaud]

The rector is on vacation, so we have a substitute, a retired guy.
He seems nice enough. Very hearty old-style.
But the trick, of course, is that while retirees function well on
auto-pilot, sometimes they can wander off course in surprising directions.

This morning he came down the aisle to pass the peace.
I'd already sat down, but stood as he approached.
He shook my hand and said "Oh, you don't need to get up.
But now that you have, would you polish my shoes?"
I glanced down. His shoes, peeking out from under his cassock alb, seemed
fine.
He said, "I was *joking*"
I must have looked stricken, because he repeated it louder.
"I was JOKING."

I swear before God, his blessed mother, and all the saints:
he really said this.
And, having thought about it, I think this was the weirdest thing I've ever
heard in seventy-odd years in the church.
-M