03/02/2025
At the week’s end …
This was the most interesting thing.
I was in Chicago a couple of times this week — and after having lunch on Thursday I walked to the Amtrak station to board the afternoon train back to Mt Pleasant. I walked across the park, vacant but for a couple of statues and myself. As I neared the other side of the public area, I came upon these items, left unattended on the bench. I waited a few minutes, considering possible explanations for their abandonment. An NIV bible and a package of new boxers. Hmmm…. It was perfectly quiet — nobody came or went — and so I left them undisturbed, save for snapping the pic.
I continued to the station where I took a seat to wait for 30 minutes, or so, until my train would depart.
A man was in the train station — 76 years old with a traditional biblical name, similar to my own. He watched me for several minutes before initiating a conversation by asking about some stitches on my face.
He identifies himself as a mathematician who has never been presented with a math problem that he couldn’t solve. He does taxes for around a dozen of his friends, even though he feels that they are using him. This was small talk.
What he really wanted to talk about came next, as others began to fill the waiting room.
He’s gotten to a place in his life where he is making amends to everyone he has wronged in the past ten years of his life. He is very intentional — not fanatically religious but he is decidedly sure he will go to hell if he doesn’t make these amends. Says he wasn’t a very nice person over these last ten years. But he’s beginning to believe that he might be able to make it to heaven — if he keeps working at it. He expressed gratitude for his youthful appearance, said he really can’t believe how old everyone looks who are in their 70s. He’s glad that he doesn’t look like that.
I was curious how long it’s been since he replaced his mirror.
As my train arrived, I shook his hand, encouraging him in his pursuit of making amends, while trusting in a favorable final outcome. I grabbed my backpack and went to get on board.
A young woman was in the adjacent seat, and was working diligently on a project. She had her laptop out along with several papers and a tablet. Rather than crowd her, I put my backpack in the overhead and went to the observation car. I ordered a ginger ale and took a seat in a booth.
Before long, I noticed a gentleman looking for a place to sit and I motioned for him to join me. Turns out he is a homebuilder who spends winters in Kenya doing non-agency volunteer work. Building projects, etc. — something he has been doing for years. He spoke for about an hour about his experiences — a truly interesting guy. We spoke of everything from Kenyan public education to the quality of Kenyan beer.
I returned to my seat and finished the rest of the trip chatting with my neighbor, who had reached a good stopping point on her project.
Soon enough, the conductor announced our arrival in Mount Pleasant.
Monday I’m leaving Minneapolis for Seattle, before heading down the coast from Portland to LA County and then heading back to Iowa from San Bernardino.
I can’t wait for the new dialogues, encounters, and interactions (DEI) along the way.
