I love walking into Wal-Mart! The odds of being entertained by other people increase exponentially. Check out time is always fun especially express lanes whether they are self-check or 20 items or less. Through observation some of the conclusions that can be made are:
1) People can’t count. 20 items means 20 or less. Close only counts for horseshoes and hand grenades.
2) People do not know what they are doing. There have been many times I thought of offering help to get them out of the way.
3) When paying by check people wait until the end of the transaction to make check out. Please folks, get with the time and use a debit card. IT’S FASTER.
4) When the transaction is completed and change handed back by the cashier, people seem paralyzed by some traumatic force. Move out of the way so others can get through.
5) When purchasing products people seen to choose the ones with out scan bars or prices. Please people, pay attention so check out time is more efficient.
I observed a woman the other day standing in the 20 items or less line getting frustrated with the cashier. The cashier was waiting on a price check to complete a transaction. Within minutes frustration was verbally expressed by the woman waiting to be checked out. Obviously she was in a hurry. Not much of a Spirit of Charity was it. Of course I thought to myself “Lady, if you are in a hurry maybe you should have chosen a different line”. My Spirit of Charity during this advent season was no better than hers. It’s all about “me”.
After thinking about this incident a thought occurred to me. Yes, I realize thinking is a dangerous pastime for me. But what if Heaven has express lines to check out sins? Surely this would expedite the righteous person’s entry into God’s kingdom, correct? I wonder how many people would actually use the line that says “20 sins or less”. Oh, I’m sure some will try, including me. Can’t you imagine how the events would play out? “Mr. Norrell there seems to be a problem. Your buggy is full. This is the express checkout. Go to another register.” With my luck not only will the line I need to stand in take forever but nothing will be priced or have a scan bar. Standing in line will be like the Snickers commercial, “Not going anywhere anytime soon?” It’s all about “me”.
Isn’t Advent about preparing for the hope to be experienced at Christmas? God came to live with His creation, God is living with His creation, and God will come again restoring His creation in the perfect order which it was created. By expediting our check out speed it seems we are more concerned with our individual status while ignoring the needs of others. When did faith become all about “me”? During this time of the year let us remember the love we have received from God. Love is expressed in different forms such as that we have with our friends, family, spouse, or romantic interests. All is grounded in the perfect love of God (agape). Not only is this an unconditional love that can describe how God loves us where we are but it is the love we should also have for each other. The greatest gift we will receive at Christmas? I believe it to be the life-giving love which comes down from Heaven. Let us take this abundant gift and share it with everyone we come into contact with. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13 “Love is patient, love is kind…” describing how we should express love to others. We desire affirmation in our relationships. Share God’s affirming love with others should be our desire since we have accepted God’s gift of redemption. Then maybe, the check out lines won’t be stressful but filled with grace. Now it’s all about “us”.
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