FOOT PRINTS IN THE GROCERY STORE
Yesterday I went to the grocery store. Since we are still under Covid-19 restrictions in Ontario, the check-out lines are long. The line confronting me (and others) stretched almost to the rear of the store. My grocery basket is heavy, my hands are sore. It is then an old Muslim man in front of me begins to complain about how badly the store is run and the long lines. I could see he only had a few items in his big cart and was very frustrated. Wanting to help, I said-- "I bet the line will move fast, sir."
"If your gift is to encourage, then give encouragement..." Romans 12:6-8).
He didn't seem encouraged.
He left his big cart (with just the few items) saying, "I'll be right back." He had forgotten something. I said, "take your time, I will watch your cart until you return."
He was gone long enough for the line to start moving. So I push his cart ahead with one hand, and my basket on the floor ahead with my foot. I do this "dance" for a long while until the man came back. He iss apologetic for taking so long--and very surprised I have been moving his cart forward to keep his place in line.
What happens next sort of unsettles me, in a good way:
The old man picks up my basket and puts it in the empty back of his big cart. He's only using the small space in the front of his cart where a kid might sit.
Then he says to me, "It's heavy (pointing to my basket), I will give back to you when we get close to the front."
The person in line behind me says, "I have a feeling Covid has changed people for the better."
I think of the poem Foot Prints in the Sand-- one set of grocery cart tracks.
Foot Prints in the Sand
One night I dreamed a dream.
As I was walking along the beach with my Lord.
Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand,
One belonging to me and one to my Lord.
After the last scene of my life flashed before me,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that at many times along the path of my life,
especially at the very lowest and saddest times,
there was only one set of footprints.
This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it.
"Lord, you said once I decided to follow you,
You'd walk with me all the way.
But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life,
there was only one set of footprints.
I don't understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me."
He whispered, "My precious child, I love you and will never leave you
Never, ever, during your trials and testings.
When you saw only one set of footprints,
It was then that I carried you."
Happy Father's Day!
It was then that I carried your grocery basket.
Amen
