CCT 28-1_LR

reflections

« GARY W. MOON, M.DIV., PH.D.

Four Examples of Masculine Goodness: My Train Ride with George, Paul, “Ringo” and John

M y favorite southern humorist, the late Lewis Grizzard, explained the popular ity of his books this way: “Writing is easy. I just remember stuff that never happened.” I am invoking Grizzard’s wit because what I’m about to write is so unbelievable that you might be tempted to think I made it up. But it actually happened. Recently, I checked off a bucket list item, which means I only have 141 more to go before I do. The adventure was a train trip from the mountains of northeast Georgia to Manhattan and then along the Hudson to Montreal. It began on a surprisingly crowded midnight train from Georgia. The conductor direct ed me to the last open seat. It was

next to a man who had surrounded himself with a fortress of bags. I was taking this trip solo, treat ing AMTRAK® as a rolling monas tery for a time of blessed introversion. It almost worked. However, trying to sleep in the seat next to a loud food mainstay proved to be a more uncomfortable experience than most Trappist beds I’ve endured. Then things got worse. As the sun began its day, I “awoke” from the few hours of tortured “rest” to discover something devasting. My seatmate was an extravert who apparently had never met a wannabe monk. However, it wasn’t long until my disappointment turned into fascina tion. George was a short, round man in the fourth quarter of life. With his initial sentences, I began the first of

four provocative conversations. Each interaction was with an amazingly good man who had encountered remarkably bad possessors of power. The names of my story partners? Well, that is the first thing you might not believe. After George, I met Paul, “Ringo,” and John—each with the lyrics and tunes the world needs to hear. George had finished two full careers. For about a quarter of a century, he had worked his way to Master Sargeant in the Air Force. His job was ensuring massive C-5s were loaded with enough fuel to carry their cargo. After his military retirement, he began a second career as a conductor for AMTRAK. George had more stories than Boston has beans. For the sake of word count, I’ll only share one,

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