Supermarket College

Ann's comment to my post, The Great Shopping Cart Debate, is a perfect way to begin this one:

"Lessons are learned everywhere. Think of it---without shopping carts and corrals, I might actually believe the state of my soul was fairly good."

"Amen!", like, a million times. シ

Back in my early days of Supermarket College, this is what I learned:

God is very concerned about my attitude toward others. It matters to him that I not sputter and fume if I race around a corner and come upon The Supermarket Slowpoke. You know her, don't you? She's anywhere from 60 to 80 years old and walks the speed of a sleepy caterpillar. God wants me to not only show patience as I'm standing behind T.S.S., He wants me to go even further--to have compassion and patience in my heart. 

To God, it matters that I put items away in their proper place if I change my mind about buying them. He cares that I not leave a head of lettuce next to the cans of tomato sauce. He cares that I not be that lazy or that thoughtless about the employees who will waste time carrying the head of lettuce away --if it's not spoiled first. And because God cares about things like that, I should, also.

God cares that I pick up what I drop and in advanced classes, He asks that I pick up what other people dropped earlier. Not only is this combating laziness, but it's sowing good seeds--perhaps someday I will be old and will need others to pick up after me.

Smaller lessons? Choosing foods wisely when feeding my family, saving money by reading the price per ounce stickers on the shelves, resisting temptations to buy junk food and items we do not need. Budgeting and buying enough to last are other lessons.

Yet there's also letting others go ahead of me in line if they have fewer items than I do. Or waving them ahead if they have even more, especially if they look tired. Which brings up another lesson--learning to look at people and really see them. Reading their eyes, seeing their needs and having a heart to help where I can.

And learning to listen, striking up conversations with people in line. Once the woman behind me told me she'd just been diagnosed with cancer, so I listened to her and then told her I would pray for her. Other times I've listened to the checker tell the person ahead of me her problems, and then when my turn came, I've told the checker I would say a prayer for her.

Always people respond with a smiling gratitude. Never has anyone said, "No! Do not do that."

This is longer than I thought it would be. Yet so many of those lessons center around one thing: Going to the supermarket not just for groceries, but for reaching out to others, like the highways and byways Jesus spoke of.

And perhaps He wants me to shop there with eyes wide open to the needs of others instead of thinking selfish, complaining thoughts about high prices and over-crowded aisles and squeaky shopping carts and cranky people and crying kids. 

I'm still learning to see the needy world. I have been in Supermarket College for ever so long.



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