Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Shop Till You Drop

I had a breakthrough at the mall.

As I was pushing my son's stroller, it hit me why we were all there. Sure, some of us were killing time or running errands, but the mall has almost become church for many of us.

I'm not familiar with your church, but mine spent a lot of time telling me that I was bad, and that it had everything that was need to fix me.

It seems like today's mall performs a similar function. By showing us images of people who are younger, wealthier, and more beautiful than we are, we learn that there is something wrong with us. But by carefully paying attention to what these people wear and have we can be just like them. Problem solved, with only an outfit, or a piece of jewelry, or an electronic toy. At least till the next visit.

But it only works when we assume there is something wrong. And if we look at this moment, right now, we can see that there is nothing wrong with it. There can't be. Like you, like me, this very moment is perfect as it is. Because it can't be anything else.

If this moment includes shopping, then the shopping is perfect, too. But if you want to shop, shop. Don't think you have to fix anything, because there is nothing that needs to be fixed.

Jeff

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