We all know the supermarket
rules:
We
push the cart along, selecting items we have on our list, plus whatever
impulse items find their way into the cart. At the checkout stand the items
are scanned and we pay with cash or plastic. Then we can say we own the
items. We take them home, eat them or use them, and start a new list. The
process repeats itself, with variations, week after week.
There are differences between our supermarkets and God's supermarket.
Similarities too. In God's supermarket, the items are invisible. That's
because they're qualities instead of commodities. They're
things like peace, beauty, intelligence, health, joy, wisdom, serenity,
courage, talent, and tenacity.
We
make selections and are free to take any and all we need or desire. When we
select a quality from the shelf, it is restocked immediately, so there's
never a shortage.
At
the checkout stand we need neither cash nor plastic. We own the items by
claiming to own them. The qualities are free and yet not free. They're
freely given; but to keep them we must earn them by expressing gratitude for
them, using them and sharing them.
Unlike the commodity items, which are expendable when used or consumed, the
qualities grow best by being used and shared. It's only when we fail to
appreciate, use and share the qualities that they shrivel and become
useless.
God's supermarket is instantly available, just by knowing that it is. We
don't have to get dressed and drive there. It's easier to access than the
Internet; and there are no racial, ethnic or sexual restrictions. No
restriction of any kind, except our reluctance to receive and to pay the
price.
I
happen to believe that everything is spiritual and God-given, the
commodities as well as the qualities. So why think of an earthly
supermarket being different than God's supermarket?
Thinking of them
coming from different supermarkets just helps me to understand better how
things work. My life works better when I remember to visit God's
supermarket first, then go to the store down the street.