"The Promise"

While I usually review books that I have read, I am going to take a different path and write about a story I know well - my life.  This is but one chapter, and one experience that totally changed my life.

It was quite dark when I called for a Lyft.  The time was around 5:30 in the morning, and my flight back to Indiana was due to depart at 10:30.  I try to be at the airport two hours ahead of departure, and I knew the trip to LAX could possibly take an hour or more.  Nevertheless, the street was quiet, and Los Angeles still slept when I saw my driver approach.

I am always somewhat apprehensive when I travel alone in a Lyft or Uber, but my driver jumped out, grabbed my carry on, and opened the door for me.  As we headed to LAX, we started a casual conversation.  He was a recent immigrant from Armenia, and he was working two jobs to help make ends meet.  He had recently married a girl that was his friend, then he realized that what he felt for her was more than friendship.

He had been in this country for a year, and he had a lot of dreams and hopes for his future.  He asked me where I was from and he stated that he would love to see this part of the country at some point. I laughed and said that Indiana would welcome his visit.

By this time we had developed more of a rapport, and he told me that he had been a foreign exchange student in North Dakota.  He loved his experience in North Dakota, and but more importantly, he received a "taste" of democracy.  "Susan," he said, "I tasted democracy, and I can never look back.  I cannot return to my country because I am a target.  They would kill me."  I asked him who "they" was.  He told me that his country was not a democracy, and that the Armenian people were suppressed.

"Once I returned home from North Dakota, I became very outspoken.  The police were sent to silence me."  His father protected his life and made sure he was able to leave the country.  "But don't you worry about your father's safety?" I asked.  He said that his father was considered "old" and "unimportant."  "They think his voice counts for nothing.  It is the young they want to silence."  It is the young people like me who they kill to keep them quiet.  They don't want people to know about democracy."

Armenia is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia to the north, and Iran to the south. While Armenia is listed as a unitary multi-party democratic  nation state, he said there is much corruption, and the elections are fixed.  The people vote, but their votes are never counted.  The winners are who the government wants in control.

We talked more about his home country, Armenia, and his current job prospects.  We also talked about his fears of deportation - both for himself and his bride.  He knew that if he was sent back to his country, it would be a death sentence for both of them.

Los Angeles International Airport was in the distance, and the sun was coming up on the west coast.  Another day had begun, and my ride was soon to be over.  The driver and I were silent for a few minutes as we pulled up the the curb at the United terminal.  I knew we both had tears in our eyes.

As I prepared to leave my Lyft, my driver once again helped me with my luggage.  As I stopped to thank him, he gathered me into a hug and told me how much the time we had spent together had meant to him.

 What I had experienced was what Pastor Jill calls an "Encounter."  Both of our lives were changed by this chance meeting, and we both were once again reminded that we are brothers and sisters in this human race.

You see, before I left that Lyft, I made a promise to this young man.  I promised him that even though I was one in a sea of many, even though I was of a different culture, even though I had never experienced what he had lived through, I would do everything in my power to help him feel safe in this country. That was why we were both weeping.

I have thought of this Encounter many, many times since that day.  This young man will remain nameless for his protection.  All the while, thirty-two thousand feet in the air, I repeated this mantra.  I will never choose hate.  I will never support hate.  I will do what I can to support those who are oppressed.  I will chose love.  I will speak out.  I will not be silent.