In honor of JR’s new page, I will start a continuing and random series on everyday things I observe and how God speaks to me through them. Please be aware that you are entering the dark world of my mind and there is no turning back.
So the other day I was walking through the automatic doors at the local grocery store….you know, through that entrance room before you get into the actual store…the room where they keep the shopping carts.
Anyway, I’m walking through that room, minding my own business, thinking deep theological thoughts – seriously, that’s what I do when I go shopping, I think about theology.
In the corner of my eye and down at my feet, I saw an elderly woman lying on the floor.
So what did I do?…
…I kept walking, thinking about theology, off in my own little world.
Yep, I’m that guy.
All of the sudden I heard someone else say, “Ma’am, are you alright.” Just then it clicked with me, “Holy crap, there’s an elderly woman lying on the floor, flailing around trying to get up.”
So I bent down and wrapped my arms around her waist and helped her up.
She said, “Oh, honey, I’m so embarrassed. I just tried to sit down on this stool and misjudged it.”
I replied, “No, ma’am, I’m embarrassed. I saw you lying on the floor and I was just going to keep on walking.”
Now, before you start thinking I’m an a-hole, you need to remember that I really was thinking about theology. My mind was so involved in some deep, theological question that as I walked passed her, her lying on the floor just seemed like a normal, everyday event to me. It actually took someone else pointing out her suffering before I responded and came to my senses.
You also have to keep in mind that this kind of absentmindedness is par for the course with me. My wife often gets frustrated with me when we’re driving somewhere b/c I get some theological thought on my mind and I miss our turn – even the turn to our own house.
So, after I helped the woman up, my mind went back to theological things. Only this time the thoughts went to wondering how often I miss simple acts of kindness and justice, not merely b/c I’m not looking for it, but b/c I’m too wrapped up in some philo-theological argument with myself. The heart of God seems to be for the concrete lifting up of elderly women, not in the abstract argumentation within my own mind.
