The Alarm Sounds

Sounds like the title of a good book, huh? Well, not today.

I was heading for the library which is right next to our church. Dave is a ministry leader and asked me to drop something off for him. This way, he did not need to run back out there before the 5pm Mass. After all, today is the Georgia-Florida game. Enough said. :-)

I spent some time at the library choosing my books and enjoying the peace and quiet. I glanced over to the church and saw no cars in the parking lot at all. My feeling was the building was locked so why bother to check it out.

I briefly considered just telling Dave it was locked and I couldn't get in but decided that wouldn't be very nice.

So, I headed over to the building just to see. I approached the front doors only to see them boarded up. Well, it appeared that way. Really, they just removed the glass from the doors in preparation for new glass to be delivered. Okay. No problem.

I pulled on the door handle and, to my surprise, it opened. I walked in thinking, hmmm, I am surprised the building is open. After all, just anyone could walk in here. Like me.

As I am thinking this, I became aware of a beeping sound in the background. Uh oh. The alarm. I just triggered the alarm. How?? The door was open.

I quickly made my exit to try and figure out what to do next. When I reached the sidewalk, I could hear the alarm sounding within the church. Great. Now what? Do I wait for the police and try to explain that I really was NOT trying to break into the building?

I looked over at the rectory and saw that Father Dan's car was in his driveway. Yes! I started running for his house. His car door was open which made me wonder what his plans were. As I am running toward him, he exited his house and got in the car. Wait! Don't drive away!!

I explained to him what had happened. I really didn't try to break in. The door was open. Help! He drove to the building and shut off the alarm. We decided that the last person there must have set the alarm but not verified the door was completely closed. He said they've had this problem before.....hence the reason for new doors arriving next week.

Whew. My heart was still racing. We dropped off Dave's paperwork in the sacristy and left the building. I am very thankful Father Dan was home.

As it turns out, Father Dan was heading for the trails to take his dog for a walk. He had returned home very quickly just to retrieve his cell phone. Come to think of it, his car was not in his driveway when I first went into the church. He arrived home just as I needed him.

So instead of being in jail for breaking and entering my own church, we are sitting here watching football while dinner cooks in the crock pot.