Advice in the Produce Dept.

Too many years have gone by since that quiet fall day at work. It gave opportunity to have an interesting conversation with a gentlemen who thought my young life needed some wisdom. Yes, I was just a kid. And like most kids, (and some adults), I was learning through scrapes and bruises that come from maturing by living through life experiences. Oh, I had heard my dad say to me that I should watch him and learn from his mistakes because I couldn’t live long enough to make them all myself. This wisdom was something different.

So he bent my ear and shared with me something that has stayed with me to this very day. That means I will share this wisdom with you today. I had just started working at Loblaws here on the Hamilton mountain. This was before malls and box stores and Walmart. Yes, we had individual stores that dotted most major corners of our city. I had built up enough nerve to make my first venture into company/employee arrangement. Walking into the store I sheepishly asked for the manager. As I remember it, that was how we did it back then. When he came forward from the office, he asked me very politely, “What can I do for you son?”. With a shaky voice and my head a little down I asked if he was in need someone to stock shelves. He looked me up and down and I think when he saw this scrawny kid he thought I couldn’t lift a box of soda crackers let alone a case of V8 Juice. But he said that he might be able to use my help in the dairy department. I remember walking out of the store with much dignity but when out of sight, I did the happy dance all the way home. It was great to have a job and the money needed to take out my girl It was in this store that I met the produce manager. He was older and because of that I thought he might know a thing or two. One day as we talked, or should I say, I listened, he began to tell me his primary piece of advice. He said this; “When you look at every person you see, look for that one beautiful thing that they possess, everyone has at least one beautiful thing about them”. I have never forgotten that. And his words have always been right and true and memorable. Each and everyone of us has something beautiful, both externally and internally. There is something awesome and amazing. If you doubt his words just remember this; God said, “I have created you in my image”... There is indeed something in and about each and every one of us that is beautiful. Not just our hair, or chin. Not just our humour or our way of smiling. Try it. Next time you are out for a walk, or at the store or even at church, take a look around you and find that one thing about everyone that is beautiful and wonderful. At the same time remember, there is in each one of us a heart that seeks after God and in that person, in you and me, lives the Spirit of God that makes us not only beautiful, but makes us a child of God. And that beauty, I believe is how we look like Him and how He sees us. Something to think about.

Rob