Rickshaw

“The blind receive sight.” Matthew 11:5

I was thinking recently about a retreat I attended at Laity Lodge 35 or more years ago. The presenter was a Jesuit priest, young, vibrant, articulate. He obviously made a powerful impression for me to think about him and his presentation of so many years ago.

The priest had recently returned from India.  As I recall, he described feeling soiled while he was in India. He told of eating as a guest of a peasant family. They fed him one of their few baby pigs—clearly an extravagant gift. The entire time the priest was eating, and for some time afterwards, his main concern was that he not get trichinosis. 

He told of a rickshaw driver offering him a ride. The priest refused on the ground that he did not want to treat a fellow human as a beast of burden.  The rickshaw driver said that if the priest did not take the ride, the rickshaw driver would not be able to feed his family that night. The priest responded by offering the driver money. The rickshaw driver refused, saying he was not a beggar.

I’ve told that story many times.

Who knows why, perhaps because I have been going into prison, I recently thought of it differently.

What if the rickshaw driver’s response to the priest had been, “I’m sorry, sir. You mistake me. I’m not a beast of burden. I’m a man. I support my family as best I’m able.” And then with pride, the rickshaw driver had said, “Now, may I give you a ride, sir?”