What is Radical Centrism like? There is a story by an unknown author about a US Navy fighter pilot who was hit my a missile over Viet Nam during his 75th combat mission. The pilot was able to eject from his badly damaged aircraft and parachuted to earth. He was captured and spent several miserable years in a prison. But what was most important to him was the fact that he had survived. As bad as everything had become there would be a new life for him after the war. In the last analysis, however, the pilot thought about the one person who, more than anyone else, had made his survival possible: The man who packed his parachute. The pilot thought about the fact that even though he and the unknown sailor both sailed on the same ship, both lived through many of the same experiences during shore leaves and storms at sea, he had no idea who the man was. As the original story pointed out, packing a parachute is a complicated task; there is no margin for error. It involves "the many hours that sailor had spent in the bowels of the aircraft carrier, carefully weaving the shrouds and folding the silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fate of someone he did not know." Yet the sailor did his work conscientiously, there were no mistakes in his work. He proceeded as if his own life depended on each well-packed parachute. As luck had it, the pilot, through a strange set of circumstances, eventually met the sailor years after being discharged from the Service. It was a matter of each of the men knowing when the event occurred and who was packing the chutes at what time. Meeting the sailor changed the pilot's life. Some time after that, the pilot decided that he needed to tell his story. Already an occasional public speaker he made sure to include this vignette in his presentations. After all, meeting the man had "put a face" on what had been the huge relief he felt when floating down from the sky and knowing that he would live. Now there was someone specific to give thanks to, to acknowledge, and to help out as best he could, to show gratitude, maybe, if nothing else, to pitch in and help support a charity that the sailor contributes to because it is something he believes in. What Radical Centrists know is that many people 'pack their parachutes.' Their lives consist of many missions, like the 75 missions of the Navy pilot. On any one of those missions a carefully packed parachute could have the ultimate meaning for one's life. Maybe there are no incidents where something dramatic makes the parachute packer important in a life-or-death sense but the more significant point is that at any time when such a situation might arise there are people, always at least some one person, who make it possible to survive, or possible to take that next step that makes all the difference. They are unseen, often they are unknown, but they are very real. It cannot be otherwise in an interdependent society. None of us are islands, we are all part of a community or even a number of communities. We need each other even when we don't know each other. We should, as Radical Centrists who have a mission in life, who may need to expose ourselves to serious risks in what we do, remember the fact that no-one accomplishes anything entirely alone. Who got you here? Who helped along the way? How can you show your gratitude? They are the people who pack your parachute.
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