The Shopping Cart

A woman goes to the supermarket to shop for her family's weekly needs. After paying for her groceries, she wheels a full shopping cart out to her car. She loads her purchases into her SUV, then pushes her shopping cart into the parking space next to her vehicle. After vacating the space her SUV had occupies, another car takes the space. The parking area near the supermarket is now full, save for the space next to the one the woman just vacated. Another car pulls in and begins to park in that space, but can't, because a shopping cart is blocking it. The driver of that car has to exit his vehicle to move the cart. He notices the shopping cart caddy only three spaces away, deposits the cart in its proper place, then parks his car. He enters the supermarket, for some light shopping, where he notices a woman remove something from her shopping cart, and place it on a shelf. Upon investigating, he discovers that she placed an unwanted can of soup on a shelf next to the allergy medicine, eight isles away from where she found it. He was heading in that direction, so he grabbed the soup, intending to put it back where it belongs. On his way, he stops in the meat section for some butterfly pork chops. There, he notices a carton of milk, stuffed down in the cooler. The actions of another LAZY shopper who didn't have the energy to put something back where they got it.

If you have ever picked something up in one section of a store, or market, and after deciding that you didn't want the item, placed it somewhere other than where you got it, you are, in that moment, inconsiderate and lazy. That is not a judgment; that is simply a statement of truth, based on the evidence. I'm sorry if that upsets you, but the truth does hurt. Do you often leave your shopping cart sitting in the parking lot, rather than wheeling it over to the shopping cart caddy when you're through with it? If so, you are, again, inconsiderate and lazy. You justify your actions by saying that the company pays people to gather up those carts. But do they also pay the shopper who wants to park in the space your cart is blocking? Do they pay him to exit his car in order to move YOUR cart to its proper place? Do you really think supermarket employees were hired to take a carton of milk from one end of the store to the other, because YOU WERE TOO LAZY TO DO IT YOURSELF??? Why should ANYONE have to pick up after YOU??? You are not BETTER than the person who comes after you, so why do so many act as though they are?? If anything, the one picking up clutter they are not responsible for is better than the one leaving it for someone else to deal with! And those Christians among you who are guilty of things like this, you have testified against yourselves. The bible instructs us to do unto others as we would HAVE them do unto us. Those of you who do not like making extra trips across the supermarket to return something, or walking your cart over to the caddy, would rather leave it for someone else to do. Obviously it's not something you want to do, but you have no difficulty leaving it for your neighbor. How is that Christian?? Don't you realize that it’s the little things that testify to the true nature of the person?

What good are good deeds when unconscious actions are selfish, or lazy? A man spends an hour in church listening to LOVE THY NEIGHBOR, then, as he's driving home, he cuts people off when they try to change lanes in front of him. Is that how we're supposed to love our neighbor? And before we waste precious time arguing over the TRUTH, and why it doesn't apply to one person or another, there's something I need to point out. Matthew: Chapter 25 states:

"In as much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

So before someone tells me that stores do employ people to pick up after them, and that makes it okay to add to that person's work load, let me ask you one question. IF the employee who had to pick up after you was Jesus, would you STILL leave the can of soup next to the allergy medicine? Would you STILL leave the shopping cart at the other end of the parking lot? Would you leave that cart in a parking space, if the driver who had to exit his car to move it, was Jesus? If you call yourself a Christian, while continuing to do these things, you are that in NAME ONLY. If the boldness of my treatise angers you, be aware that the only thing such observations as these can wound is your pride. And there is no room in heaven for that.

It's the things we do when no one is looking, and the things we do without thinking, that tells us who we really are. Anyone can put on a show, and pretend they're a saint. Ted Bundy did it. But who was he behind that pretty mask? And who are you behind yours? Does the person who stands on his soapbox shouting "I love you all," really love everyone? Is the Christian who practices his or her piety for all to see, really pious? You either are something, or you're not. If you feel you need to TELL me that you're one thing or another, chances are, you're not even close. All an observant eye has to do is watch what you do with your shopping cart, and who you really are will be revealed.

Proverbs 21:2 says: "All a man's ways seem right to him, but the Lord weighs the heart."

In other words, good deeds mean nothing if they were done for selfish reasons. And how many good deeds are actually done for selfless reasons? A man meets a homeless man on the street, and buys him a meal. Was this a selfless act, or a selfish one? Did the good deed make the man feel good about himself? OF COURSE IT DID!! That's why he did it. The same man meets a leprous homeless man on the street, and pretends he doesn't hear when the vagrant asks for change. If there's any chance at all that calamity could befall the modern day Good Samaritan, he usually goes the other way. How many Father Damien's are there in the world? There are many missionaries who do good works, but those works are as much for themselves as they are for the people they help. Missionary work makes one feel good about their contribution to creation, but what if it didn't? What if there was a 50-50 chance of contracting something deadly? Father Damien worked with lepers, and because of it, contracted leprosy himself. Would the modern day missionary work with a village of people suffering from AIDS or Ebola, if the odds were fifty-fifty that they would also come down with the disease? We like to feel good about doing good works, but we rarely follow our Lord's example. HIS good works would lead to a VERY unpleasant death, and HE did it anyway; all the while KNOWING what the outcome would be. His Apostles followed His example, as did people like Father Damien. These were the TRUE definitions of the word missionary. They did not do these things, to wear them like badges of honor. They did not argue amongst themselves saying "My sacrifice is greater than your sacrifice." They simply did what they needed to do, and moved on, or died for their efforts.

People talk, and talk, about how good they are, Christians and non-Christians alike. In a huff, they puff themselves up with pride over a treatise like this, saying: "Who are you to tell me what kind of Christian I am??? You don't know me!!"

Nope, but God does. He knows every part of you; every truth...and every lie; just like He knows me. You see, once upon a time, I was the lazy, inconsiderate jerk who left the shopping cart in the parking space. I was the one who left the can of soup next to the toothpaste. The difference between me and the people who thumb their noses at these words is: I was humble enough to recognize it when I was wrong. If I preach it, I was usually guilty of it first. But then, how can one share the truth, if they never knew the lie?

Anyone can talk the talk; Jim Jones did it without batting an eye. But things didn't work out so well for the people who believed him, did they? Time has taught me to look at a person's actions, before listening to their words. I prefer to watch what they do, just as I am always watching what I do. I don't look at the things we script for ourselves, and I don't look at the faces we like to wear. I look at the little things, the things that aren't scripted; what we aren’t thinking about when we do them. I look at how people conduct themselves when confronted with those little things. Do they accept responsibility for being inconsiderate or lazy, when that is what they are? Do they make an effort to change? If so, they may be the kind of person who deserves a reward like heaven. Yet if they try to justify their inconsiderate actions, or excuse their lazy behavior, they will have an eternity to argue their case. But since only the humble can pass through the Pearly Gates, they won't be pleading it in heaven. We are defined by the quality of our character. Our choices testify for us and against us. But sometimes the most convincing testimony comes from something as simple as a can of soup, or a shopping cart. Judgments are often made without the benefit of facts; truth is a statement of fact, without the need for judgment. The one who feels judged by the truth is usually guilty. Just some food for thought. God bless