I like to think of Christianity like an Uber ride…

I recently went to New York City for the very first time. After landing at the JFK airport, I had no idea how to get from the airport to Manhattan, where I’d be meeting with some important clients.

So what did I do? I did what most people do these days: I ordered an Uber on my phone. The driver was a middle-aged man who spoke little English, but he was very friendly and welcomed me to “The Big Apple” with excitement.

The drive felt kind of like my experiences in a Tuk Tuk in India. He weaved in and out of people, honked his horn, and made his own lane a few times. I was surprised, but I thought maybe that’s just how they do things in NYC.

He told me where I should go and what areas I should stay away from. He’d been living there for most of his adult life. It was my first time. I had no reason not to trust him.

He dropped me off at Sey Coffee in Brooklyn, as that was where I requested to be dropped off (no TDH Coffee in New York…not yet, at least). You can’t go to a client meeting after a red eye without being caffeinated.

With a tasty cup of coffee in hand, I rolled my luggage back outside and ordered another Uber for the remainder of my journey to Manhattan.

This driver was a quiet black man who was probably the same age as me. He was nice, but he was completely fine with silence. He didn’t offer me any advice, but he kept me safe and took me from Brooklyn to Manhattan like I needed.

I got out, fully caffeinated and ready to go.

If Uber were the construct of religion, then each ride would be a different form, a different method of seeking the divine, a way of getting from Point A to Point B.

Sometimes we only take one Uber ride, and switching is unnecessary or even scary. But other times we switch methods along the way: the first ride may have only taken us halfway or for some reason didn’t work out. And other times still we just ditch Uber altogether and use our legs to walk.

It’s easy to bash one’s previous belief system. And many times that system rightfully deserves to be bashed. But as time goes on, the more I see my previous experiences as grace.

My views of the divine don’t really fit into those Uber rides anymore, but I’m grateful for the methods that made me who I am today.