Baltimore Airport

Well, it was proved true to me again that you never know who you might encounter while waiting to make a connecting flight on Southwest Airlines.

I was early for a flight that I had about a two and a half hour layover for, and the boarding area was packed because the previous flight had just been cancelled because Southwest had a part to fix a broken seat but didn't have a technician certified to do the install. While those folks were settling in for the next hour or so that it would take for the next plane to show up, I found the one vacant seat over by the glass and as I was reaching for my iPod and the new Jon Sobrino book I glanced over to the cadre that seemed to be spreading out in the area of seats to the right of me. As I watched with the kind of disinterested curiosity of one with hours of travel done and hours more to come, I noticed someone that I'd met in 1974 striding through the crowd and towards me... or more particularly to the group of young adults that had spread out and were now deep into their technology and undertaking what seemed to be one text or call or email after another without seeming let up.

Then I stood and smiled and greeted Ralph Nader letting him know that a conversation that we'd had, along with Dr. Sidney Wolfe, back in 1974 had helped me understand what it means to work unselfishly on behalf those who are marginalized and disenfranchised. A young man stood next to me as I made my introduction and expression of appreciation to Mr. Nader, at first I think to make sure that I wasn't a complete nutjob and to also remind me that if it wasn't for Mr. Nader's tireless efforts on our behalf over the years that we wouldn't be reimbursed by the airlines for getting bumped from a flight. I smiled and simply said that I'd been a fan of Mr. Nader's work for a very long time. He seemed satisfied enough to sit down, but close by in case of ... whatever.

So, for the next half hour, with one interruption for a telephone interview with a news radio station in St. Louis, we talked about peace, justice and nonviolence in the context of the current state of the world and the presidential election. I told him that I'd appreciated his willingness to appear in a theater of the absurd like Bill Maher's show the Friday before, and that for me it seems an increasingly difficult task to 'mine' the nuggets from what the media is willing to share with us. He reflected on what it was like having to go on Conan and have to be part of a skit with Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. We talked about his being on the ballot in 46 states, or maybe 45, guess I should check, but I wasn't interested in engaging him on the relevancy of it this time since it really is about raising the issues that are important to so many of us. I did tell him that I helped put up signs for his campaign in Alabama in 2000 and seemed to enjoy that.

Then, he asked why I was there and told him about going to facilitate nonviolence training at Yale Divinity School starting the next day. He then reminisced on two things in that context. First, he was the person who did the last interview with William Sloane Coffin before he died. The second item that he talked about was a book that had made an impression on him many years before entitled "The Small Community: Foundation of democratic life" that was written in 1942 by Arthur E. Morgan and the link is to his organization that is still doing the work of finding community solutions today.

Finally, I asked him what he would like me to particularly share with people from our brief time together that morning. He said "Two things, connect with the veterans and keep up a public witness."

Thank you Mr. Nader, I will, and God speed as you continue your faithful and persistent witness.