Dave, The U.F.O. Believer

Dave, The U.F.O. Believer

Often people make fun of those who differ from the norm, and they will find excuses not to be around the “abnormal” people.  As a pastor I often found myself with “strange” people and could not easily find a reason to avoid them.  After all, I was to be the shepherd of the flock, some of whom seemed to be of a different breed.

I am thinking of Dave in Tampa who was an active member of our Sulphur Springs congregation.  Dave and his wife were considerably older than I was at the time.  They were retired and seemed to have everything they needed.  I was thirty-three.  One day while visiting with them in their modest home, Dave asked me if I believed in UFOs.  I had been around long enough to know that sometimes a direct answer is not the best, so I said something like, “UFOs are beyond my experience,” leaving it open for me to find out what Dave believed. 

I listened intently as Dave told me that he believed in UFOs, and the creatures manning the “saucers” were our friends.  He was a member of a national or worldwide UFO organization.  He left the room and came back with several copies of the group’s magazine to loan me.  (His wife would not allow the magazines to be left in the living room).  We discussed the site on Highway 50 west of Brooksville, Florida, where a man lived who built a house modeled after a UFO in which he had flown several years before.  Dave had been to that location and believed the man was telling the truth.  I asked him if he had ever flown in a UFO to which he responded, “No, but I hope to one day.”

On subsequent visits the UFO discussion always continued. Each time I secretly prayed that the subject would not come up again.  That was a topic that I could not discuss with any authority, and it made me uneasy.  I would have dismissed him as a “nut case” except that on all other points he seemed completely normal, not to mention the fact that he was a good supporter of the church!  His father had left him money and stock that paid a handsome quarterly dividend.  He frankly told me that with the dividend and their retirement income they were not hurting.  He could be counted on to give extra when the church had a need.

I remember well the Sunday morning that I announced that we were moving to the Colonial Church in Orlando.  Following the service he came to me with tears in his eyes and said, “Why would you want to leave a place where people love and support you and go where you don’t know anybody?”  My response was that I felt God was leading me to another place.  He was not happy; my answer did not seem to satisfy him.

Often I think of Dave.  While I have forgotten many others, he sticks in my mind, not just because he was “different” but for other reasons as well.  The experience with Dave taught me  (1) Some people (probably everyone) just need someone to listen to them without judgment, and (2) His emotional concern for my leaving reveals how deeply a pastor’s moving affects some people.  Furthermore, in each of my subsequent moves his question always haunted me, “Why would you want to leave a place where people love and support you and go where you don’t know anybody?”