Christ is closer than we might think

By Mother Superior Efrosinya (Laptik):

Here is something that happened to me, which illuminated the truth of what Our Lord Jesus Christ has said: what you do for a prisoner when you come to see him, or for a hungry man by giving him food, you do it for Him.

I was driving, and I saw a man standing at the side of the road trying to catch a ride.

I could see that he had been drinking.

Several cars had gone past the man.

I stopped to pick him up, and thought to myself: “Why am I doing this?”

He did not have very far to go. He talked a lot, and sometimes he was close to crying. He asked me to pray for him.

His behaviour was not unusual. He opened up to me, just like many other people would have done in his condition. He was particularly willing to do so because I was wearing a vestment.

But when he got out, I could not help the feeling that I had given a ride to Christ himself.

This was an irresistible feeling. It was even more vivid than when I was doing my obediences at a hospital ward.

I had no idea why I felt this way. I had only picked up a man on the road; he was not quite sober, he talked a lot and said many things that did not make sense.

If anything, this episode taught me one important thing: Christ is closer than we might think; we ought to be aware of  His presence as we go about our lives.