Choose Love

I had a few things to do at the store.
There was a decorative frame I needed to buy.
There were some baby gifts I needed to purchase.
Spending time in the baby department was my favorite part of the shopping trip.

I made my choices.
When buying a baby gift, I buy something I imagine my own children would have worn.
It has been an appropriate way to buy baby clothes in the past.
I hope it will continue to be a good litmus test for which outfits to purchase in the future.

There are no shopping carts at this particular store so all the items were in my arms.
I was trying desperately not to drop the fragile picture frame.
I am sure I looked awkward as I approached the register.
I noticed when I entered the store that it looked a bit different but didn’t think much of it.

There was a customer at both cash registers that were open.
Since the one woman had many items of clothing, I chose the other line.
I was still trying to juggle the baby gifts and the picture frame.
I walked up to the counter to lay my things down and wait my turn.

Could you go back and stand behind the sign please? The cashier asked nicely.
We take private information here and we don’t want another customer to hear.
Of course, I said still a bit confused.
I gathered my things and stepped back behind the sign.

I looked around me and noticed what was different.
There were now ropes that formed a queue for the waiting customers.
Since that afternoon there were only three of us at the register it seemed a bit unnecessary.
I imagined that on the weekend or the day of a big sale the lines would be longer.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about the ropes and the the formation of a queue.
I was a creature of habit.
This was something new that seemed a bit cold and unfriendly.
All of those thoughts were in my own head; the woman behind the counter never knew.

Finally, it was my turn.
I walked up to the counter and laid my items down.
The picture frame survived the wait.
The woman thanked me for being so courteous.

As she was handling my purchase, another woman walked right up behind me.
She laid her things on the counter.
Could you go back and stand behind the sign please? The cashier asked nicely.
We take private information here and we don’t want another customer to hear.

She said the same words in the same tone that I heard minutes before.
With annoyance, the woman grabbed her things abruptly.
I don’t like to be yelled at, the customer said angrily.
I was not yelling ma’am, I simply wanted you to know our new procedure, the cashier said.

The annoyed customer went to the other register.
She slammed her things down on the counter.
She was still complaining about getting yelled at.
The cashier looked at me, visibly upset.

I didn’t yell at her, the cashier said.
No, you didn’t, I assured her.
You spoke to her in the same tone that you used when you spoke to me, I clarified.
People can be so difficult sometime, the cashier said.

I wondered how many times a day she has to give those same instructions.
I wondered how many people readily accept them and how many people get annoyed.
The cashier was just doing her job.
She was just doing what was asked of her.

What private information do you discuss? I asked.
My transaction was routine and nothing important was said.
When we open a new charge account, we have to ask for the Social Security number.
We have to see a driver’s license and we just want to give the customer privacy, she explained.

It all seemed reasonable.
It was just different.
I liked the old way much better.
However, some power-that-be decided that this way was best.

The angry customer walked out of the store still visibly annoyed.
She was handled expertly by the second cashier.
Her items were bagged nicely.
She was wished a nice day.

It didn’t matter.
No one could have done anything right after the first cashier spoke to her.
Who knows what kind of day she was having or what she was dealing with in her life?
We all deal with things every day but we still have to be courteous and pleasant.

I thought of a cartoon strip that a friend gave me years ago.
It was frame after frame of a person being so enthusiastic about a new job.
The person couldn’t wait to begin.
The last frame made me laugh.

The person was ushered into the room where she would be doing the work.
All the enthusiasm from the previous frames ended.
When the door was opened, we saw the artist’s rendering of what the person saw.
Oh, I have to work with other people?

Whoever isolates himself pursues selfish desires; he rebels against all sound judgment. (Proverbs 18:1)

We were meant to live in community.
God’s Word talks a lot about one-anothering.
The enemy of our souls wants us to live in isolation.
He will do everything in his power to separate us and keep us from Biblical community.

That is how we can discern the enemy’s hand prints on a situation.
When there is disorder, chaos, and disunity, the enemy is rearing his ugly head.
Where there is order, peace, and unity, we see evidence that God is in our midst.
The cartoon had it right; it is difficult to work together because we are fallen people.

Even with our best intentions, we fall short.
Even when we want to have fellowship, we bring our own ego to the situation.
Even when we want to get along, we balk when we don’t get our own way.
Even when the other person truly did nothing wrong, we don’t see it that way.

We have an egotistical veil over our eyes.
We see things the way we want to see them.
We survey our surroundings and determine how they affect us.
We bring a bias to every situation; a bias that favors us.

We all do it from time to time.
We just tend to see it more clearly in another person.
We fail to see that we have had that same “me first” attitude.
On a good day, we know that it is not about us.

Good day or bad day, it is never about us.
It is always about Him.
Our response matters, especially if we are a believer in Jesus Christ.
What good are our words when we cannot love one another?

I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear. (Martin Luther King Jr.)

Choose love; that is what the unbelieving world needs to see.
Kindness when we are inconvenienced.
Peace when everything around us is falling apart.
Joy when the rest of the world is angry.

By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another. (John 13:35)
It seems like it should be so simple.
In reality, it is so terribly hard.
Without the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of us, it would be impossible.