Learning from our Neighbors

Every day is a journey, every journey we make gives us experience, every experience teaches us new lesson/s. Lessons are not always learned in classrooms but also in unexpected places. So also, learning a lesson from a neighbor on a journey was one such experience which I would like to share here.
Recently, I was on a journey along with a few pastors to attend a funeral service of a senior pastor who died of heart attack. Though we were informed about the funeral in the morning yet it took nearly three hours to decide and make necessary arrangements for the journey. Meanwhile, we were also waiting for few other pastors to join the troop. Finally, we hired a vehicle which was driven by a young Muslim driver. The journey went on smoothly for almost three hours but we were bit late yet we made it to the funeral service. After conducting the funeral service we consoled the bereaved family and were back on our journey. While we were on our way back some of our pastors had heated argument about the new Bishop's election process. While some pastors were giving fuel to the argument others tried to quench it. Finally, one of the pastors concluded that we are not going to get any benefit out of it so we diverted the topic. The driver asked us about our dinner plans because most of them either only ate breakfast and some like me, not even drank enough water. We decided to have our dinner at Medak wherein we would reach by 7:00 pm. However, the driver requested that he would like to break his fast (it was during Ramadan) so therefore wanted to stop at a nearby Mosque, on the way. Unfortunately, there were no mosques on the way and some of the villagers on the way suggested to break his fast at Medak. It was already past 6pm and if he had to reach Medak then he would have to speed up things. The vehicle was on the top speed and we were able to reach just before the time for him to break his fast. On reaching Medak, the driver was very anxious to find a mosque so he inquired some Muslim friends who were about to break their fast. They asked him to come over to their place so that they would break together and later on attend the service in the Mosque. The driver requested us to wait for some time and immediately ran to the nearby shop where those Muslim friends invited him. He shared some fruits which were offered to him by the strangers and later on he was taken to the Mosque in an auto to offer prayers. After finishing their prayers they took him to a nearby hotel and offered him something to eat. Though our driver was a stranger to them yet his friends did all that they could and finally bid farewell. Truly, Good Samaritan story re-enacted. We could see the eagerness in the young boy to offer prayers at the right time and also the bond of fellowship existing between our neighbors. We as pastors had wonderful lessons to learn from that journey. I felt the journey was fruitful not just because we were able to console the bereaved family but also because of the lessons we learned from our neighbors.