a cabbie

With swift skill, pickers twisted the oranges from the trees. Others sorted them according to size and quality. Trailer load after trailer load departed from the Florida orchards. One load of superb fruit left in the middle of the night for the New York produce markets.

The driver never stopped to eat or go to the restroom before his truck required fuel. Likewise, he never slept until driving laws required him to rest.

They, the driver and the precious oranges, stayed on the interstate all the way to the George Washington Bridge.

While waiting for a light to change at 3:40am in Manhattan, hoodlums hijacked the truck and severely beat the driver. Bruised and bloody, the driver hoped for help on the deserted midtown street.

At 5:12am, a Christian clergyman walked from his apartment to the subway. With a short prayer, he dialed 911 but the call failed to connect and he hurried to catch the train. Shocked by the sight at 5:20am, a congressional aid dutifully dialed. After two dropped calls, he also hurried to the station.

Finally, a Muslim cabbie drove down the street. He picked up the bloody man, put him in his cab and rushed the unconscious driver to the emergency room.

Oh, many Christians may a similar story in Luke 10. Can we also see the Muslim without the fears and tears of many years of hatred?

We—the Jew, the Christian and the Muslim—separate ourselves with similar beliefs.

Like the Jew and the Christian, the Muslim believes in one God, the God of Abraham. While Jews and Christians trace their lines to Abraham through Isaac, Muslims trace their roots through Ishmael, the firstborn. The families of Ishmael and Isaac suffer today, one at the hand of the other.

The Muslim, the Jew and the Christian also believe in a unique spiritual leader called the messiah. The word messiah simply means the annointed one.

The Muslim and the Christian believe Jesus of Nazareth to be the messiah and await his return. However, the Jew awaits the first arrival of the messiah.

However, God promised a blessing to ALL families of the Earth through Abraham (Genesis 12:3). As we wait for the fulfillment of God’s blessing, we might do well to remember that Ishmael and Isaac buried and mourned their father together (Genesis 25:9).

Oh, we might continue to focus on our differences. Alternatively, we might remember that Ishmael and Isaac, our ancestors, worked together and knew the promise of a blessing to All Families Of The Earth.

If you liked this, you might like The Sower.

Oh, by the way, have you heard Amy's cd?

Ray probably saved my life.

I had seen enough killing and dying before returning home. Ray had never been to Southeast Asia but he was a hospital corpsman at Balboa Naval Hospital. He tended the wounded. In his trauma ward, wounded seems inadequate. Some Marines lost legs and/or arms in combat. Some experienced skin-melting burns. Many felt continuous teeth-gritting pain. Ray tended them all without complaint.

However, my unscarred body only contained a wounded spirit. Thirteen months of killing and loss leeched my sanity.

Ray, this young lifesaving lad, accepted me without reservations. Oh, he obviously had his own problems but we laughed together. Moments with Ray eased my spirits. His enthusiastic embrace of life kept me from killing myself.

I slipped into years of drug abuse and degradation. Occasionally, I would find my way back to San Diego and Ray would treat me as those I never left.

Ray served the Navy for four years. Then he became a civilian employee of the Navy department for more than a decade. Like most of us, he had periods of unemployment but he also worked as a civilian on a Navy contract, taught school and managed computer networks.

When my life could not get any worse, I lived in a veterans' mental ward for six and a half months. Hospital reports gave me little hope but "the system" continued to give me help. Eventually, my life became bearable. Today my lifestyle gives me joy and provides returns for my community.

For Ray, years of tending the wounded and dying caused bouts of depression. Since he never served in combat, "the system" could not help him.

One year ago, Ray shot himself. At first, I shed many tears for our loss. Now, my pain continues to diminish but oh, how I miss my lifesaving friend, Ray.