Mis-dial

This morning I got a missed call and voice message from a number I didn't know. I opened my voice mailbox, You Have One New Message - New Message... And on the other side, I heard the voice of a young man, probably no more than his late 20's to mid-30's. He had a slight hint of a southern drawl (the area code was from home), and he started out slowly with the name "Hey... A[name]." His tone was somber and serious, and he groped about for words, with much uncertainty confusion. Out of context, his message made little sense to me.

"Hey... A[name], I... apologize, I waas calling because something happened this weekend. Really. No one... understands... [name, name], no one understands-- You might. Really, no one understands. [name]. No one understands."

And I was slightly surprised when his voice suddenly broke and he began to cry into the phone. He asked, Why is God doing this to me? Can you trust me? Just a little while, to understand what God is asking for? (I think you get the point, and I don't want to post his entire message.) The rest of his message was likewise lost, worried, confused and scared. Most of all scared.

Even though I felt a little guilty, like an intruding eavesdropper, his anguish was so moving that I listened to the end of the message, as he ended with "Okay, bye, I love you, call me if you can, bye..." and hung up with a click.

I decided to call the number back to tell him that he had dialed the incorrect one and the woman he tried to call had not received his message. But when the phone rang on the other side, another voice picked up, a woman, who spoke in a perfectly normal tone and almost as if she was an operator at an institute. I stuttered for a moment trying to explain the reason for my call, and I told her that the message from the man seemed important, so I just wanted to let him know. She didn't mention anything about knowing anyone who it could be. I suppose he might have called from a public or office phone, unfortunately.

I'll wonder for a while what's going to happen between him, her, all of them, and what would happen if I'd gotten through to him and told him about his mis-dial.