I am at the hotel desk in Mississauga, and De the manager, shows me how to connect to the Wi Fi so that I can contact an Uber driver to take us to the horse show in Toronto. Sue, my wife, started attending 60 years ago with her sisters and the family tradition continues. However, what was once a country drive through farmland is a nightmare driving in an asphalt jungle.
So we connect with UberX to drive to Exhibition Place in the heart of downtown to the 102nd Toronto Horse Show. Our driver has a Mediterranean accent. Mounir shared that he left his home in Egypt when he only 18 and immigrated to Canada.
On our journey, he shared that he has a wife who is a dental assistant and a son named Matthew. He noted that when he got the message, my name was Matthew. I shared that the name Matthew in Hebrew means “gift from God.” Mounir proudly old me that his son’s name is Matthew and in Arabic Matthew means “beautiful sunshine.” Literally in Arabic it means “you are the light of my life.”
Our guardian angels were watching over us because Mounir lives in Mississauga and most of his fares come from travelers going to Hamilton, or London, Ontario or the Toronto airport but not downtown Toronto. Fares are much more frequent avoiding the congestion of downtown traffic. Mounir shared many homeless are living along the highway in Hamilton and he has often gives them sandwiches when driving after a fare.
This immigrant dad works hard till 3am in the morning to avoid the congestion in traffic. However, his skills also include remodeling and installing kitchens. He likes being busy for this is how he is able to make a living and support the family.
His parents live in Egypt and this year he took his son and wife back to Egypt to visit his family. His son asked why spend so much money to travel back home? This dad answer was profound. Mounir told Matthew what matters most in life is not how much money you have or accumulate but it’s your family.
Our Uber immigrant values most is his family, his faith and being generous to the people who are in need of help. Little did I realize that this Uber ride was going to be a God moment and lesson to learn that God created us all with a purpose. We are the “light of our life and beautiful sunshine” when we bring hope, compassion and love to our homeless, widows, immigrant sisters and brothers. Listening to Mounir, our Egyptian Uber driver, was the best homily I heard in a long time.
Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that we know that yes, the nuns were right again. God is watching us. However, not to scold or condemn but inspire us to be the best Christians we can be by honoring our parents, caring for our children and modeling respect for all races, creeds, gender identity, and immigrants in our world. No exceptions and no excuses. Sister says so…and she is right again!
