On Lexington Avenue

Rev. Gregoary's Booth

The last time I went to the doctor, the first question I was asked was, “Are you depressed?” My answer was, “Who isn’t?” But if you find yourself beset by personal and existential angst these days, help can be found on Lexington Avenue every Tuesday morning. And it only costs five cents. What a bargain.

 Reverand Gregory P. Fryer, pastor of Immanuel Luteran Church, says every day people stop for spiritual advice. Sometimes they have more mundane issues, like how to find the Guggenheim or the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Pastor Gregory tries to help no matter what.

Talking to Pastor Gregory reminded me of when I wrote the religion column for the Brooklyn Heights  Press. It was a difficult time in my life, filled with financial and personal difficulties. I was an unemployed advertising copywriter, and this was not the job I wanted. But looking back, I realize how much I was comforted by all those Interviews with priests and pastors and rabbis. As the Rolling Stones famously said, “You can't always get what you want, noBut if you try sometimes you just might find… You get what you need.”

A few months ago I was at the airport and a woman sitting next to me dropped a pencil while she was on her cell phone. I picked up the pencil, and somehow we got to talking. The woman told me all about her sick ex-husband and her children and her anxiety about the difficult relationships in her life. She spoke at some length.

After a while the woman stopped. She looked embarrassed. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I just had to talk to someone.”

“That’s okay,” I said. “We’ve all been there.”