energized by their example

“Participation. That’s what’s going to save the human race.”
-Pete Seeger

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**The audio recording of this Morton Train is available to paid subscribers here.**

Ten years ago, in the spring of 2016, I got a “breaking news” email from the New York Times announcing that Daniel Berrigan had died at the age of 94. Upon reading that headline, I burst into tears and uttered, “But I was supposed to meet him.”

This strong emotional reaction and those automatic words completely took me by surprise. I had never attempted to meet Daniel Berrigan. It had actually never occurred to me to do so. And, until that email announcement, I wasn’t even aware that he’d lived - and died - a mere ten miles from me.

Yet that response - “but I was supposed to meet him” - was so visceral.

Having grown up in the social justice lineage of the Catholic tradition, Daniel Berrigan - a Jesuit priest - was, for me, a name synonymous with bold anti-war activism. Over the course of his life, he was arrested hundreds of times for participating in acts of civil disobedience and nonviolent resistance. He spent significant time in prison and was the first priest to be named on the FBI’s Most Wanted list. In 1968, he and his brother Philip were part of the legendary Catonsville Nine who broke into a federal building, stole hundreds of draft card files, and ceremoniously burned them in protest of the Vietnam War.

That gentle, courageous man - a prolific writer and poet - embodied Peace (was devoted to Peace) in a world that desperately longs for it.

***
I, personally, cannot fathom war. I cannot fathom the visceral experience of it, either as an armed soldier or as a civilian target. I cannot fathom glorifying war or propagandizing it. I cannot fathom the terror of war or the violence. And I certainly cannot fathom the sociopathic pursuit of profiting from war.

I also, honestly, cannot fathom devoting my life to the cause of ending war.

Since I was a little kid, I’ve been fascinated - and profoundly inspired - by the bona fide activists and organizers in our history and in our midst. These are people who are so passionate, so courageous, and so devoted to righteous causes that it is truly astounding to me. As I write this, I’m thinking about Linda Sarsour, Greta Thunberg, Fanny Lou Hamer, Eugene Debs, Susan B Anthony, Rose Schneidermann, Grace Lee Boggs, Larry Kramer, Ron Kovic… My list is long and spans centuries.

These are human beings who awe me, and I’ve been wondering what to do with that awe.

***

Back in the spring of 2016, with the “but I was supposed to meet him” regret still lingering in me, I felt compelled to attend Daniel Berrigan’s funeral. Getting there became a kind of pilgrimage.

I woke early - maybe 5am - to catch a train to New York City. (I was living in Hastings at the time.) And I made my way to the Catholic Worker house on East 3rd Street. Dozens of folks were gathered there that morning - friends & family & students & associates of Father Berrigan - to form a procession to the funeral mass being held a mile away.

For over an hour, we processed rather boisterously along the rainy sidewalks of downtown Manhattan. Songs were sung. Instruments were played. I mostly kept to myself and didn’t make much conversation with anyone. I just wanted to be there and participate. At one point, someone asked me to hold the edge of a colorful banner near the front of the procession. Sewn onto it in block letters was a quote of Daniel Berrigan’s: “The gift we can offer others is so simple a thing as hope.”

Our lively procession arrived at St. Francis Xavier on 16th Street about thirty minutes before the service was to begin. We congregated on the front steps and sang “Study War No More” in his honor before walking in, spontaneously inventing a new verse: I’m gonna stand with Dan Berrigan down by the riverside…

The grand church was filled beyond capacity, overflowing with people who’d come, like I had, to pay their respects and to celebrate a life well-lived.

At the end of the service, as his casket was carried down the long aisle, passing all of us by, the whole crowd erupted into a spirited standing ovation.

So - in some special way - I guess I did finally get to meet Daniel Berrigan.

***
I wish I was one of those powerful, prophetic, radical, bona fide activists. I wish I could count myself among them. (I admire them so.) I wish my life was righteously driven by a clear vision and singularity of purpose. But that’s simply not in my makeup. It’s not who I am.

And yet, here we are! During this unprecedented time of extreme destruction, lawlessness, crisis, corruption, and madness, we are all called to participate in the healing of the world. We are all called to be active - even creative - in our citizenship. We are all called to be mindful constituents, recognizing our part in the greater whole.

What a blessing it is, then, to have the inspiration from those activists in history and in our midst, to gain understanding from their moral leadership, to be energized by their example.

***
Springtime is finally here, giving all of us a much needed boost of beauty and fresh air and new life.

Tucked in a poem by Daniel Berrigan is this invitation:

So the rose is its own credential, a certain unattainable effortless form: wearing its heart visibly, it gives us heart, too.

Washington Square Park, NYC | 2016