It was raining cats and dogs on a recent Sunday morning, so I decided to call a taxi rather than walk. The beige Mercedes pulled up. I opened the rear passenger door, threw my backpack in, and settled in the back seat. “Lousy weather,” I remarked. The cabbie looked in the rearview mirror and spotted my clerical collar. “Yup… Catholic priest?” he asked. “No, I’m a Lutheran pastor. I tell Iranian and Afghan migrants about Jesus.” “Oh,” he answered. It was starting to rain heavier now. He sped up his windshield wipers. After a pause, he said, “I’m Orthodox. But I don’t go to church.” He glanced in his rearview again and we made eye contact. “Being a taxi driver must be tough,” I offered. “Dealing with people all the time. I’ll bet some of them can get nasty.” “You got that right,” he grinned. “Do you eat regularly?” I asked. He gave me a quizzical look. “Well, I grab something to eat here or there, when I have a minute,” he replied. “Well, your soul needs food too,” I suggested. “St. Paul teaches that when we take Holy Communion, we participate in the body of Christ [1 Corinthians 10:16]. But he means this in two ways: he is talking about the true body of Christ that we receive in the Sacrament, but he is also implying that we receive this gift only in the community of fellow Christians.” He seemed to be leaning in my direction a little. “If we skip church, we deprive ourselves of the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation that Jesus gives us in the Eucharist. But we also deprive ourselves of our fellow Christians. We need them to lean on—and they need us too…Food for the body; food for the soul; the community of fellow believers….We Christians need all of those.” I noticed that he was nodding. “Here we are. Zion Lutheran,” he said, slowing to stop. He turned around and I paid him. Then he looked me in the eye and said, “Thanks. I needed that. Food for thought… Literally.”
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