Several years ago Alvar Persson was elected mayor of Grove City, Minnesota. It was an unusual election, partly because of the size of the victory - Persson garnered eighty percent of the vote - partly because Persson is a Lutheran minister and not a politician, but mostly because Persson wasn't even running for office. No one was. Next to the word Mayor on the ballot was a blank space. Only write-in votes could be cast. Of the eleven people whose names were written in, Persson was the clear choice - 202 votes of the 255 cast.

After the election, Persson was asked his reaction. He could only say: "I'm touched by this honor. But I didn't ask for it. Why pick me?"

Why indeed? As a minister, Persson should have been used to being led to his job by an irresistible force. The call to the minis…