I had an interesting experience at church a few years ago. To this day, I am still wondering what it was all about.
The parish we were attending has their Masses scheduled rather close together so there was often a crowd waiting to get in for the nine o'clock as the 7:30 Mass tried to exit. Like most parishes, each Mass has a majority of people who always went to that Mass so you got to recognize the people leaving as we were going in for our Sunday Mass. There was one woman, in particular, who always pushed past me without giving me a second glance. We knew each other on a very vague level having only spoken on a few occasions over the years. This didn't seem to indicate a Christian greeting from her as he brushed past every Sunday, head turned away from any possibility of seeing and having to acknowledge me in any way. It wasn't a problem for me as I was trying to get into the mind set for Mass and didn't want petty gestures to get me off track.
One Sunday, this very woman grabbed my arm and stopped abruptly and said, "Have I done anything to offend you?" I was flabbergasted and said I wasn't sure what she meant but no, I didn't have anything against her. She went on, "Well, every Sunday, I go past and you never say a word!" I'm still in shock but say that I'm concentrating on heading into Mass and it isn't easy to stop the flow of people going into and out of Mass to chat. She continues, "Oh, good! I was afraid I had offended you and didn't want that to come between us." I'm, meanwhile, trying to even remember her name. I assured her that I had no problem with her at all. She smiled, let go of my arm and went on her way. I mentally shook my head all the way into Mass.
The next Sunday, usual scenario of people either pushing into the church or trying to get out of church and here comes my 'friend'. I put a smile on my face as she comes up, start to say something, and she, after looking directly into my face, turns the other way and keeps going. It continued that way for the rest of the Sundays that I spent at that parish. I never heard that she had any mental problems so can only assume that I ended up not meeting her personal criteria for deserving a nod from her.
Sometimes, you don't need to watch reruns of the Twlight Zone. I often feel like I'm participating in one!
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