“Yours, Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and on the earth; Yours is the dominion, Lord, and You exalt Yourself as head over all. Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all, and in Your hand is power and might; and it lies in Your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone.” (I Chronicles 29:11-12 NASB)
Add this to your file of daily meditations inspired by my experiences at the grocery store. I know I have written a few. Monday, I went to the store with my list in hand. I was heading toward a narrow aisle, and I noticed a man looking for some food item and there was not enough room for us to get by. I waited patiently as he searched with no luck. He finally notices me and moves out of the way so I could pass by. He tells me, “I’m sorry brother.” By his accent, I suspected that his national origin was some country in Africa. Yet, he was speaking to me as if he was trying to identify with me; speaking how he thought I would speak. Call my verbal reaction an unconscious reaction, but I replied as speaking in his accent, “You’re good. No problem.” You can imagine how it sounded. The whole interaction sounded like we had switched identities. After leaving the big box store, I went to a nearby Latino owned store to look for some Abuelita Hot Chocolate mix. I did not find that brand, but I found two other types of hot chocolate with the product name and information was in Spanish. So I grabbed both of them and got in line to pay at the checkout. There were only two women ahead of me and they had a full cart, almost overflowing. Speaking in Spanish, they asked the cashier if it was okay if I paid for my two items first. The cashier motioned me to bring my two items to her, I obliged, and paid for them. She told me to have a good day and a Merry Christmas. I responded in Spanish, once again trying to identify with a person who spoke to me first, only this time I was conscious of what I was doing. I said, “Que tenga un buen dia! Feliz Navidad!” “Gracias!” The cashier looked surprised so, I said, “Yo hablo poquito Espanol.”
As I walked to the car, I wondered, “Should I be prepared to say something God related in like situations in the future?” I convince myself that I should. So, when I got home and after putting up all the groceries, I looked up how to say “God is great” in Spanish, Swahili, and a couple of other languages. Since we are to be witnesses to people of all nations and God loves the whole world, I thought I should be equipped. Furthermore, I suspect Jesus had to be multilinguistic, at a minimum literate in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. And don’t we want to be like Jesus? This is what I found in my search, to help me expand my witnessing expertise and to enhance my goal of creating God consciousness, among others.
“God is great!” (English)
“Dios es grandioso!” (Spanish)
“Mungu ni kubwa!” (Swahili)
Well, I’m just sharing another grocery store, inspired, true story. But remember, whatever language you use, speak love in your actions with everyone you come into contact with. Have a great Tuesday! Be blessed!
“For the Lord Most High is to be feared, a great King over all the earth.” (Psalm 47:2 NASB)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King