The Drug Store And The Phone Booth

It was a wonderful place.
It had old wooden floors with wide beams.
Some of the beams had knots in the wood that I tried to peer into on many occasions.
As a young girl, I was sure that the holes in the wood went down to some secret tunnel.

This wonderful place was a drug store.
Not like CVS, Rite Aid, and Walgreens today, this was an old-fashioned apothecary shop.
I was just a little girl when I went into the store with my mother.
I loved the way my shoes clicked against the wood floor as we walked to the counter.

The old-fashioned drugstore was in West Philadelphia.
We only went there when my grandmother needed her prescription filled.
I never minded going with my mother; everywhere I looked there was something new to see.
There was the wooden counter with a brass footrest and a large scale on top of a high shelf.

I always heard talking behind that tall shelf.
My mother told me that was where the pharmacist mixed the medicine.
I remember a white dish that I later learned was a mortar and pestle.
I wanted to go back behind the tall shelf and see what was going on there.

Jars were lined neatly on the shelves.
Most liquid medicine came in brown bottles with an eyedropper included.
The prescription was placed in a white bag with the same mortar and pestle on the front.
The old-fashioned drugstore had its own unique smell, a combination of many scents I’m sure.

Often, there would be many people waiting for their prescription.
It was hard for me to be still and wait.
There were so many wonderful things to explore and touch, though I was not allowed.
My mother suggested that I wait in what I considered a magical place.

There was a phone booth that was close to the front counter.
I was allowed to go inside and sit on the tiny bench seat.
If someone comes to the door to use the phone, you must get out and let them, she said.
A large black rotary phone was on the wall.

At the top of the phone was the coin slot.
Phone calls cost a dime back then.
The phone cord was silver and was quite sturdy.
Underneath the large phone was a small ledge.

Under the ledge was a compartment like those found in an old school desk.
I remember looking inside and seeing a large book.
I tried to put the book on my lap but it was attached to the wall with the same sturdy cord.
Inside the book were names and phone numbers, which at that time I was too young to read.

I would take the receiver off the cradle and put it to my ear.
I had all sorts of conversations with all sorts of people in my magical phone booth.
I could pretend to dial the rotary phone but without paying a dime my call went nowhere.
The glass door of the phone booth closed over once you were inside.

Only a few times, someone came to the door legitimately wanting to use the phone.
I got out right away.
As soon as they finished and opened the glass door, I went right back in.
The phone booth gave people privacy to make their phone call in a public place.

Cell phones were not even thought of yet.
Push button phones were years away.
Phone books were found in every home and every business.
It was a thrill to find your family name in the phone book.

I smiled when I saw an article in the October 1, 2016 issue of WORLD Magazine.
It was the picture of the red phone booth that caught my eye.
The picture reminded me of the green phone booths I saw in Ireland.
The more modern phone booth was quite different from the one I remember as a girl.

The rise of cell phones made public telephone booths obsolete. But Britain’s iconic red phone boxes aren’t going away. Instead, they’re being re-purposed as tiny shops, solar charging stations, even as displays for stained glass art. The latest attempt at rejuvenating the British phone box reconnects it with its telephonic roots. The Lovephone company is converting dozens of the phone booths into tiny mobile repair shops. In addition to repair services for smartphones and tablets, the boxes offer free public Wi-Fi and six free charging stations according to tech website New Atlas. Lovephone beefed up the windows of the boxes with polycarbonate sheeting for security and installed a workbench, shelving, and places to hang tools. Since the boxes are listed structures, Lovephone couldn’t make permanent changes to them. (Red Box Shop; WORLD Magazine, October 1, 2016)

A new use has been found for something that has become obsolete.
It is the blending of nostalgia and function.
I think the old-fashioned drugstore I remember has been out of business for years.
The modern drugstore is popping up almost on every corner.

Therefore is anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
(2 Corinthians 5:17)

When we come to Christ we are made new.
Our old ways are gone.
Our new life in Christ has come.
We look the same but we now have a different purpose.

Just like me in the phone booth as a little girl, my phone calls were imaginary.
No one was on the other end to hear me.
I had no access.
My conversation was all one sided.

When a person is in Christ, a dialog begins.
The person can talk to God in prayer.
God answers, through His Word and as He speaks to our heart.
In Christ, we have direct access to the Father anytime day or night.

In Christ, our names are written in the Book of Life.
There is such joy to know that your name is written there.
Rejoice that your names are written in heaven. (Luke 10:20)
Rejoice!

Like Britain’s red phone booths, we who are in Christ have a new job to do.
We must recharge every day as we read God’s Word.
We must go to Him in repentance when we sin and need to be repaired.
We have total access to the Father because of His Son, Jesus.

We are made new.
We are new because of Him.
We have the same look with a new purpose.
We have surety that, in Christ, our names are in the Father’s Book of Life.

Amen.