Many Roads

We chatted with a taxi driver recently, a Muslim from Ethiopia. Dorothy explained to him that Monday coming would be a holiday because of Easter so the taxis would not have as much business. He was interested to hear that we are Christian. We wished him Ramadan Mubarak and expressed the opinion that all the world's religions had much to teach us, and that they mostly agree on kindness. I passed on the idea we heard from our Syrian friend that there are many roads to the truth. Just as we arrived home, our driver expressed a dissenting opinion. I think my eyebrows raised a little. The discussion ended there. 

I'm not sure why a taxi driver would think there was only one way to get from here to there: as if you have to take Woolwich Street and Woodlawn Road to get to our place while Eramosa-Victoria is just wrong. Of course, insisting on one way will usually work, but give me a taxi driver who can find his way around accidents and construction sites. 

Antiquity is full of episodes in which people have changed direction and found a way. Looking back, the routes that worked were prophetic, while the ones that didn't were just mistakes. Stories we retell remind us what didn't work so we stop doing that. For example, don't start a war unless you are prepared to sacrifice your children in battle with no guarantee of winning. Tribal gods urging us to aggression prevail on average only 50% of the time. We may search for peaceful roads around the collisions of belief, custom, ambition, greed, pride, and hatred.

The driver helped us in with our groceries earning thanks and a generous tip. Our life journeys brought us here on different roads, but we met with mutual benefit, and for that we are grateful.

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For the Healing of the Nations: Beyond the Walls Choir