My First Uber Ride

This past week I took my first Uber ride. An unexpected situation called for a fast return from DC. My driver was Feruz, originally from Tajikstan. While my mind was somewhat occupied with the reason for the faster trip, Feruz wanted to converse. He told me that he had seen the WWII planes fly overhead--I hadn't seen them since I had been underground on the Metro. He said Russia always did a big celebration for VE Day, but they also always conveniently forgot the other parts of the area, such as his nation, which had also played major roles in the victory.

This led him to talk about how those in power tend to look out for their own interests, such as accumulating wealth and prolonging their hold on power. I shared with him that just the night before a small group of us had been talking about evil, and had decided that the most common denominator of what we saw as evil was when we humans--and our human systems--set up something as our ultimate "good," or aim, that was less than God, or when we tried to make God over into our own image. 

He said that while he was a practitioner of Islam, sometimes he thought his questions meant that he didn't believe in God anymore. I said that I don't think God is bothered when we ask questions, that God wants us to use the gift of our minds.  He was wondering where God had come from. Good question, I said. I shared my understanding that all of creation has come from God, and that there is not a single part, or person from whom God is separated; that God's love was so powerful that all creation flows from it, and also towards it in the ultimate purpose of God.

He talked about the Prophets, and how some have distorted their words. I said that true prophets call us back to relationship with God. Then I said, when Issa--our Jesus--was asked about the greatest commandment, he said it is "to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength; and the second is like it-- to love our neighbor as ourself. All the Law is summed up in these two." Loving God and loving neighbor, we agreed, was truly what our faiths share in common. 

It was an interesting first Uber ride.

Matthew  22:36-40

“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”My