The final day in D.C. was a long one. I was out the door of the hostel a little after 7 a.m., carrying all my stuff. This amounted to probably about 40 pounds, much more than I would usually bring, but I thought my car was going to be close at hand and I planned to leave a lot of it there. However, if you’ve been following this little adventure, then you know that the car was NOT close at hand. In fact, at this point, the car was parked in the lot at Union Station. I’d finally decided to leave it there for most of the trip, and was now on my way to get it. I wanted to drive it to the Convention Center, park it close, and then take off as soon as the Mobilization was over. But first, I had to walk there, carrying my stuff. This was one of those moments in life when giving up is just not an option. There was nothing else to do but keep walking, despite the ever-increasing pain in my arms and shoulders. I’m sure that these moments are good for us sometimes. And I was thankful that it was about 30 degrees cooler than it had been the previous few days.

Half an hour and $38 later, my car and I were on our way to the Convention Center. I had several more good conversations with other attendees while I was at the Convoy of Hope table, and then went in for the first session: a talk from Dr. Vincent Harding. This unassumingly powerful speaker has been witness to many changes in American history, most notably the Civil Rights movement. His address to us that morning was on the question of how we can really advocate for the poor without both knowing poor people personally and having them present in our discussions. He then opened up the floor for us to respond and talk to each other. As much as I enjoy hearing from experts, I am always grateful for the chance to hear from the many other passionate folk who have turned out for this event too. As expected, we didn’t come up with an answer to this question, but we were able to hear how our friends across the country are beginning to address the issue.

We then had a church leader roundtable, moderated by Brian McLaren. He didn’t speak much himself, and I would have liked to hear more from him. But the diversity of voices on the panel lead to a very rich discussion of how we can continue to see the whole of Gospel lived out in our home congregations. We heard much about the need to work together, and I loved hearing the language from the different Christian traditions. One phrase stuck out to me specifically. We talk a lot about how Jesus said the Kingdom of God is at hand, and we pray that God’s will is done on earth as it is in Heaven. I’ve heard a lot of different opinions on what we are actually doing then. We aren’t really bringing the kingdom about because it’s already here. And we’re not helping God, because he doesn’t really need our help. The phrase that one panelist used is that the Kingdom of God is at hand, and we are working to make that visible. Have I mentioned that one of my favorite parts of this whole experience was hearing from so many different Christian perspectives? It seemed very much like exactly what we should be doing.

We moved straight into a workshop session and I attended the one on health care and poverty. Now, there are many different opinions on how health care should be fixed. But I would hope that most people assume that something must be done. There are too many families who do not have access to health care. Many diseases can be directly traced to the neighborhood in which you live. And many people wind up with very serious conditions that could have been prevented if they could afford to see a primary care doctor before the situation got out of hand. My new friend Jonathan works as a patient adovcate in an emergency room in west Baltimore, and he taught me a lot about this issue. I guess you can’t look people in the eye day after day, see their suffering, deal with the complications of the insurance system, and feel like they should still just be able to figure it all out on their own. Maybe the rest of us need to shadow Jonathan for a while.

One think I appreciated about this session is that they did not advance any specific policy initiatives. There are still many decisions to be made. But the point is, we cannot overlook those who are vulnerable. As people of faith, Jesus calls us to identify with them, care for them, and when necessary, take up their cause if those in power aren’t listening.

I’d have to say that my favorite part of the whole conference was the Post-Mobilization Training I attended. I guess this means it was after the official stuff was over, but I thought it was so good that it should have been front and center. It was a discussion titled “Theology, Scripture and Social Justice,” hosted by Dr. Chuck Gutenson and Dr. Shaun Casey (who perfectly fits the picture in my head of a Founding Father … without the breeches). They each gave a brief overview of what they believe, and then opened up the floor for questions. They each have a wide path of experience, and were able to speak to the experience that many of us share, moving from a a traditional conservative evangelical view to one that embraces a wider scope of issues. I especially enjoyed their treatment of the question “What is the Biblical role of government?” They believe that a better question to ask is, “What does the Bible show us about how God intends us to live together? THEN, what kinds of public policies empower that way of living?” Neither of them would say that there are easy answers to our questions, and they encouraged us to live in the tension. It was a fantastic way to cap off the Mobilization to End Poverty.

I got back to my car at 6 p.m., and had planned to drive straight back. I had to take Taylor to school the next morning at 8:15, and it’s only a seven hour drive, so I should be home by 1 a.m., and that didn’t seem like too much of a problem. However, I had NO idea what D.C. traffic can be like at the end of the day. It took me an hour and half to go the first six miles, during which Tom changed his mind about the route about 18 times. And then, he took me on a maddening scenic tour of some expensive Maryland suburb, totally bypassing the obvious entrance to the highway. I think Jill has finally recovered her hearing after I called her screaming in frustration.

Once I got outside the city, things picked up. I knew I needed to stop for dinner, and was hoping for Chick-fil-A. No luck. So I finally stopped for fuel at a station that had a Blimpie inside it, figuring this would be a better nutritional option than fried chicken anyway, although not nearly as satisfying. They were out of roast beef, so I went for ham. However I neglected to think about the fact that I’d been crunching my way through a bag of salty Gardetto’s snack mix, and the ham proved to be just too much for me. As I’m trying to pull it out of my sandwich and drive at the same time, I glance up in time to see that I’m passing the next exit … with a sign for Chick-fil-A.

By the time I climbed into the mountains in Maryland, it was quite late. And quite colder than it had been the last couple days. Which means it was quite foggy. And by “quite” I mean zero visibility. Really. Zero. But, there is always grace. The semis I had been so afraid of proved to be exactly what I needed. I got behind one of them who was going much slower than usual because of the fog, and stayed right with him until it cleared. I could see his lights and knew I was on the right track.

I have discovered that the secret to staying awake when you can’t listen to your iPod because Tom’s battery needs to be charged and you’re driving through Pennsylvania at 1 a.m. is country music. Normally, I don’t care for it at all. But I guess they play all the fast songs for me and the truckers who are driving all night, and the tempo, excellent fiddling, and really ridiculous lyrics kept me going. That, and a best friend who stayed up talking to me as long as I wanted.

I finally made it home at 3 a.m.