God speaks

There are people who say God does not speak.  These people either hold no faith there is a God; or, whatever faith they may carry, tells them God only spoke in the past, to the men of old, those honored and holy ones of renown.  It is through their words alone we today can know anything of what God would say, and has to say, for those of us occupying the present moment of here and now.

While this means of viewing life is a simple one to comprehend, it fails to acknowledge the basic reality of God being God.  He is able to do whatever He wishes to do.

Naturally, this concept will not take into consideration the belief in no belief.  For those who believe not in a God who created the heavens and the earth, any further discourse on the matter is pointless.  There is no discussion if one fails to accept the essential premise of 'God is.'  Since i operate from the starting point of 'God is', I will continue on that basis.  For the purposes of discoursing on the concept of 'God is', such is a matter to be left for another time.

God is able to do whatever He wishes to do.  If He wishes to speak, He speaks.  He does what is right and what is good, for He is the one who established the rules for the creation He made.  This is all a matter evinced by a simple story coming out of the plain living of life.

It happened one evening at my place of work, a grocery store, where I go about the business of shopping orders for those who either cannot, or would rather not, because of time restraints or whatnot.  As it occurred, in the midst of this process, an elderly gentleman approached me, asking, in a very heavy, thick accent (it sounded Russian, or possibly Jewish), if I knew where to find the Equal.  

I suppose it was due to the accent, or it could have been because my mind was engaged in the order at hand, but my mind failed to register precisely what the man was asking.  Because of this, I replied to him that I did not know where the item was he searched for, but if he had a moment, I would find a manager who would.  

My first though was to walk to the Customer Service desk at the front.  My second thought, seeing my friend Linda, who worked as a Demonstrator at the store and who knew where items were as good as any, to ask her input.  Upon thinking of Linda, I hear behind me the voice of another customer, addressing the elderly man, inquiring for himself what the man was looking to find.  At this moment, I ask Linda if she knew where Equal could be found, to which she tells me it would be in the sugar aisle, while brightens the bulb of inspiration over my head, reminding me what "Equal" actually was, and I turn back to where I left the elderly man, who is waving me off as he stands next to another customer of the store - clearly the same man who inquired of him what item he was searching for.

As I begin walking back into the direction of where I left the man, I see him pushing his cart  into the direction of where the Equal would be found, the sugar aisle, as Linda said, aisle seven, as my memory and experience recalled.

I found myself oddly incensed - in a very slight manner - as it was my intent to assist this man in need of help; and another customer, who was not an employee of the store, steps in and assumes my task, as if I was incapable and he was privileged.  Of course, such thoughts were utter nonsense.  So my pride was wounded - who cares.  If I had been found in the position of customer, and I knew I could assist someone in need, I would be remiss if I did not carry myself with the same manner as did this person.  I had absolutely no right whatsoever to be offended.

Thus, as I battled through my wounded pride, I returned to the order of groceries I was shopping for that time.  As I searched for my own next item on my own list, the notion struck me to go after the elderly man.  Follow him.  You know the aisle where he will be found.  Make certain he locates what he seeks.

So, I pushed my own cart off into the direction of aisle seven.  When I turned onto it, I saw the man in the distance.  He was starting at a particular portion of shelving.  Before I reached where he was, he started pushing his cart away, to which I caught up to him and asked whether or not he found the Equal he was searching for.  In his thick accent, he replied to me that he had not; to which I turned to the shelving, spied the sugar, which I remained familiar with, and saw the Equal nearby.  Rather than being displayed with the block letters I anticipated, it was written with a script I assumed the elderly man could not read.  I took it from the shelf, and asked him if this was what he was needing, to which he answered it was.

God speaks in ever so subtle ways.  For those who listen, people can be helped.  I could easily have ignored this prompting within my spirit to seek out the man on aisle seven.  It made no sense to follow behind him.  He was directed to the appropriate aisle in the store; he would locate the product he needed.  Only - he would not have found what he sought, as evinced by his walking off, without the product, as I approached.

God does speak.  All required of us is to listen.  Whoever has ears to hear, may he hear.