Wednesday, the day after elections and the world awaits with anxiety unabated. I arrive at the DMV office to have the lienholder removed from my car’s title. A simple task with all appropriate paperwork ready—and I find the line long. Coronavirus continues to slow society and insist on patience. 

It is a lovely, warm day. We queue on the sidewalk, some busy on phones. I have arrived on bicycle since the route is short and the day beautiful. My home-built e-bike gets attention. 

A big guy, obvious outdoorsman, stands next behind, “That’s some bike.”

“Thanks! I added the motor and battery last fall. It was great fun trying to get it to work.”

“How far can you go?” 

And so our conversation begins. He tells me he is in line to get the title transferred for a boat he just bought at bargain price. It turns out the frail, elderly man who owned it did not have a proper title, so the rigmarole of establishing ownership and so on. His day is more complicated than mine.

We talk about outboard motors. He knows a guy who collects boat motors, has several hundred of them (where he stores them has to be a wondrous warren). He even has a 1957 Evinrude that was never used. It’s still in its original packaging! I am momentarily lost in imagining such a thing. I hear about his career as inspector of commercial jets, his flying around the world ensuring airplane safety, riding in airline cockpits when the flight is full, the misery of bumping along in a stiff jump seat. 

He tells me about boats and planes. I tell him about bikes and paths. Soon the hour wait has passed and two guys have a moment of friendship. He thanks me for the time and I say it’s been good. 

We are enduring upsetting times of political division, of coronavirus quarantine, of racial reckoning, of economic disparity, a time of drastic change and accompanying disquiet. The nation’s future hangs in balance as ballots are still counted. The healing of this nation is far from certain. But all that was set aside when two strangers, names unknown, shared a few moments to chat and enjoy simple interests. In that is the hope for America. 

Chris Hagen
Interim Associate Pastor