I saw the police officer filling up with gas as I was driving by, so I made a hard right into the station and drove over to him. He was just getting ready to head inside the store as I approached, so I rolled down my window and asked him to wait as I pulled into the stall next to him.
Once I was out of my car, I asked him my question. His answer surprised me.
“You can do whatever you want,” he said. He was probably 40 years old, a regular looking guy aside from the Park City Police uniform.
“So you don’t mind if I pray for you right here, really quickly?”
“Well,” he said, taking this in. “We don’t get mixed up with people’s religious activities while we’re on duty. But you can do whatever you want.”
I wasn’t quite sure how to respond. What I wanted was to say a prayer for him in that moment, but he was starting to back away. So I tried once more. “Can I just say a quick prayer for you now?”
The answer was repetitive. “You can do whatever you want.” And then he turned away.
This whole exchange was friendly, if not particularly comfortable for either one of us. Apparently, not everyone in the Park City Police Department interprets the rules the same. But all I could do was pray for him, which I did as I drove home, asking God to protect him. For all I know, the guy’s a good Christian. He’s just a little legalistic.
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