Gospel lesson as told by cabride from hell: Redeye cross-country. Already exhausted. 45-minute travel into the city turned into 90-minute carnival ride. Finally stopped, minutes from expulsion of bile, and normally questions about money don't teach me anything, but how much should I tip, if at all?Part of me wanted to stiff him on the tip. Driver's every decision was a bad one. Driver's every decision to correct his bad decisions? Even worse. And after each mistake? A curse word at the traffic, the other drivers, his morning luck. His anger filled the car and anger competed inside of me with my nausea. Zero tip would teach him a lesson of better ways to drive.
The part of me that ended up paying him a tip looked back at itself. It saw a sinner who makes many mistakes. It saw a sinner make even more mistakes trying to rectify other mistakes. It saw impatience and anger compete for the soul of a man. It saw hidden curses unuttered, still expressed. It saw an opportunity for grace.
"Sorry about the rough morning, man. Thanks for the ride. God bless."
His return smile and attitude that things had to improve from here reflected grace received at grace received.
1 comment:
I can't wait until the day I can talk about having cab problems in NYC!!!
Did you see Spider Man?
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