Grocery Shopping

It's something that divides a lot of people. Some love it. Some hate it. Some haven't done it in their entire life. I enjoy it... until I get home and realize I forgot one obscure item.

Thankfully, that has improved recently. I generally leave with everything I need.

I just need to fix my second issue.

Running into people I know.

Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with running into friends or acquaintances at the store... except the timing.

Haven't washed your hair today? Wearing track pants because you just had to "quickly run to the store"? In a hurry? You are guaranteed to run into someone.

It's also usually someone that hasn't seen you in a while and wants to catch up.

The worst is when you are in a hurry. A few weeks back I was at the conveyor belt when I realized cheese was on sale. Since I don't want a mortgage, I usually buy cheese when it's on sale.
So, it was off to dairy as fast as possible. Of course, in the process, you bump into someone. Then you have to look like a jerk as you say "hi" while running in the opposite direction.

Really, I'm in a rush... it's not you it's me.

Thursday, it was a different story. I was getting some stuff for the food bank and saw someone from a distance. Not only was I wearing house stuff... I had a shopping cart full of beans. While I do like beans... I don't like them that much.

So I avoided them. Least I look like a bean obsessed foodie.

I realized how trivial these concerns are in the grand scheme of life... However, when they happen, the last thing they seem is trivial.

Pieces of a Plate

While doing some work near the kitchen sink, I heard a plate falling. Having fairly fast reflexes, I reached out and caught it without even looking. Had I looked I would have know it was not a plate... but PIECES of a plate.
I cut may hand up pretty good. Had to pull glass out of it and was wrapped up in bandages for the better part of a week. It also hurt a bit. Not a lot, but a fair amount. And there was a lot of blood. A lot.
While thinking about the state of my hand one day and how much that whole thing sucked... it hit me.
Jesus was whipped and pierced.
If my hand had caused me so much grief, imagine what Jesus would have gone through?
Jesus would have been beaten with a cat-of-nine-tails. A whip with pieces of glass in it.
Even thinking about it makes me sick. And he did that all for me. It's a sobering thought. One I thought I had grasped, especially after seeing The Passion of the Christ. I was wrong.
I know it seems like a loose analogy. My hand barely felt what Jesus would have. But still! That really is love. That he would lay down his life, in such a horrid way, for us. People that could have cared less about God or a relationship.
I never would have thought a shard of plate would boost my faith, but I guess that's how God works. He takes the bad and makes it good.