(I came across this piece that I wrote last year, in 2009... Hope you enjoy it! It was fun to re-discover it today...)
Lessons from a Taxi Driver
This morning, on my way to work, I came to find out there were some problems on BART, which is our version of “rapid transit” in the Bay Area. The platform I take to get to San Francisco was shut down so I waited on the only other platform for the train to return from its outgoing route – needless to say, there were delays and I subsequently missed the free shuttle that takes me from downtown San Francisco to the Presidio.
Feeling a little frazzled from the journey, I slid hurriedly into the seat of the nearest taxi and proceeded to give the driver directions. He looked back at me with a grin and said, “long morning?” then asked if I minded him talking on the phone. “Of course not,” I told him, and he continued to speak in Arabic briefly to the other person on the line.
When he got off the phone, he told me he had been talking to his mother from overseas. I asked how she was doing, then asked where she was from. He told me Jordan. “Jordan! I’ve been there… To Amman… Petra… and Madaba.” He looked back in surprise, “Madaba? That’s where I’m from! You know it’s the second oldest city in the world…”
I told him I had gone to the church where they had the oldest map of Jerusalem in the world built in stone mosaic on the floor. Then he asked me what my impressions of Jordan had been – the people, the culture, and so on. “It’s very nice. The people were very kind and generous with me…amazing hospitality. It was my first time to a Middle Eastern country so I was a little unsure of what to expect before I went. I was surprised by how modern it was, with a lot more diversity than I expected, some of the women covered, some not. I met many Muslims and Christians.”
Then he asked me, “Do you know much about Islam?” I told him I knew a good amount about it because of the work I do. “Do you know why we pray all in a line?” he asked rhetorically… “It is to show that, young, old, rich, poor, we are all equal before God.” “And the arms… we keep our elbows raised, to help the blood flowing.” “And the head, we bow it below the back, to humble ourselves…” “And we touch our forehead to the ground, to dissolve all of the sadness in our hearts.” “Do you know why we pray 5 times a day?” he began again. I started to answer, but he continued on, “It is to help us to resist temptation.”
“Do you pray five times a day?” I asked him. “Yes, I do. Sometimes even in the taxi. It is a good thing, to help put things in perspective, to have a bigger picture of life and to want what’s best for others. It helps to bring peace.”
Hearing all of this so out of the blue was fascinating and impeccably timed, as the book I had sitting on my lap right then was “The Spiritual Activist – Practices to Transform Your Life, Your Work, and Your World.” Just that morning, on BART, I had been reading about the importance of having a spiritual practice – here is an excerpt: “Having a practice helps us pay concentrated attention to the inner voice – a presence that has the power to continually reinform the activities of our daily life. So while spiritual practice can seem like a selfish activity, in fact in helps to dissolve our preoccupation with self. Through practice we cultivate a sense of peace and compassion that pervades the rest of our relationships and activities.”
Curious, I asked the driver if he had a favorite saying or teaching of the prophet Muhammad, PBUH. He told me, “Did you know that Muhammad, pbuh, could not read or write? Now why would God choose a messenger who could not read and write? Why not choose a wise scholar or educated man?” “It is because a wise man could have written the Qur’an himself, or came up with stories of his own. But the people knew Muhammad, pbuh, and they knew he couldn’t have written it by himself, thus they knew it was the word of God.” “The first word he heard from the angels was, ‘Read’. And of course he could not… Do you know what the word ‘read’ really means? It means to investigate, to learn. So the first word of the Qur’an is the angels’ instructions to investigate, to learn about the wonders of God’s creation.”
Indeed. This cab ride contained a great lesson to me – a message directly from God. The taxi driver was living proof, from his humble yet infectiously positive demeanor, that a consistent spiritual practice makes a huge difference, both in one’s own life, and in the positive impact one can have on others. As I was leaving he said, “When are you next in Jordan? You should come, my mother will make food for you…” Even though it will probably never happen, I could tell theinvitation was sincere. Hospitality is the science of putting God’s teachings into practice. I walked away from that cab ride with a heart full of warmth and a deep feeling of gratitude –an amazing transformation to take place in just 15 minutes!
