A Pastor’s Ponderings: Thankful

By Rev. Pete Hyde

He stands in the door of the grocery store looking down at a two-column list on a piece of rumpled notebook paper. He sighs, shrugs his shoulders and moves out of the entrance door to try to figure out how he is going to tackle the task without having to back-track through the store. He has put his list, the best he can, in order of how the store is laid out from right to left. He tries to convince himself not to get impatient at those who do not have a plan and just wander aimlessly around the store oblivious to anyone else who needs to get their shopping done in an efficient manner. He picks up his head and sets his sights on the first section of the store that corresponds to the top of his list and off he goes. Dinner rolls, sandwich bread, broccoli, green beans, sweet potatoes, potatoes, lettuce, green pepper, green onions, onions. “That part was easy,” he thinks to himself as his confidence builds. He turns down the canned vegetable aisle. About halfway down it is blocked by a cart and someone with no list wandering along the aisle not sure of what they want or why. He tries to be patient and waits, and waits, and waits. The owner of the cart looks at him and continues their pointless search and makes no effort to move the cart from the center of the aisle. As he reaches over to move the cart out of the way, he gets one of “THOSE” looks. “Have a nice day. I’m not anymore.” he wants to say but realizes he could not say it in a way that would be courteous.

Efficiently picking items off the shelf, he smiles as his plan is coming together. The next aisle is clear, and he continues to make progress in crossing items off his list. As he turns the corner and looks down the next aisle, there it is again, the same cart in the middle of the aisle, the same joyous, confused, lost, wandering person. A quick strategy session goes on in his brain. Does he go down the aisle and wait, or does he move on to the next aisle and then have to do the dreaded “back-track?” Which would take the least amount of time? Which would cause him the least amount of frustration? Move on and backtrack was the decision. It grated on his nerves to turn around and retrace his steps, knowing he would have to come back to this aisle when he was done. The joy of marking things off his list was now clouded by the fact that he would have to return to that aisle. He was beginning to get his act back together when he turned down the soft drink aisle and there they were again!! “Just skip this aisle too if you are going to have to go back anyway.”

After taking longer than he had planned, his list was all crossed off and he headed to the checkout – only the express lane and two other lanes open. Quickly, he heads to the shortest line. There it is again. The cart was blocking the lane. The owner was buried in their phone. “Inquiring minds want to know why you are not paying attention!!!” he almost thinks out loud. “The person in front of you is almost done, the conveyor belt is empty,” racing through his mind. While tapping his foot impatiently, just loud enough for everyone to hear, he waits. The person finally notices that it is their turn, looks up from their phone and looks up at the impatient man and says, “Looks like you are going to have a great Thanksgiving meal. May God bless you and be thankful.”

When he got home and unloaded the groceries, he discovered he had forgotten three critical items on the list. They were on the blocked aisles. He climbs back in the car and heads back to the store, short list in hand, made out in order of the store floor plan. He waits impatiently for someone to back out of the front parking spot so he can just run in. He pulls in the spot and sits for a minute. He takes a deep breath. “This can’t be what Thanksgiving is all about!”

The busyness, the meals, the stress, the frustration of having to have everything “just so,” the worry about who is coming and who is not, is not what Thanksgiving is all about. It’s about being THANKFUL in all things NO MATTER WHAT!!

My prayer for each of you is that you stop sometime each day and offer thanks for all things, even if they are not pleasant. God is in each event, each moment, each situation, each visit, each meal, each trip the grocery store. Who cares if you forgot the turkey and had to go back to the store only to find out they didn’t have the size you wanted.

Rev. Pete Hyde serves as chaplain with the South Walton Fire District