DEVOTIONALS

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Ben's Current Devotional:

"The Conspiracy of Love"

Hey All,

Last year, about this time, I was standing behind a door that read, "Employees Only" in the stock room of the Banana Republic at Flatiron's Crossing, basically signing my holiday season away. I was fortunate enough to be asked to apply for an "Acting Manager" position. Although I didn't act much like one - get it? I know, I know, alright, anyway, I'm signing of the dotted line. Below a lot of fine print that detailed days that I should not expect to see much of my family and friends. Some were in bold, specifically November 25th and 26th, as well as December 16th, 17th, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, and 26th. I remember at the time kind of laughing inside my head a little bit. The idea sort of popped into my head that while most everyone else would be shopping with friends and family, searching for gifts, enjoying their day, hoping to find the perfect thing to bring a smile to someone's face; I would be standing around, waiting for the one unjolly soul that was not having much luck, whose shopping experience was not particularly successful, and subsequently, hated my guts. It was an exercise that played itself over day in, day out.

But sometimes we have to take a step back before we snap. We have to uncover the better nature that is hidden below all of the anxiety. On the 23rd of December, ten minutes to close, I was counting the cash, sales associates folded clothes. One customer in the back, feverishly tore through a sweater stack. (Note - This is where the rhyming ends). One of the sales associates approached the man to see if she could assist him; but was unable to locate the size he was looking for. She grabbed a walkie talkie and brought me into the fray. The man was furious because we did not have a particularly popular, red, wrap around type sweater in his girlfriend's size. He yelled at me for an uncomfortable five or so minutes about how negligent it was for us to not have the item, how hard could it be to order enough sweaters he asked over and again. I offered to locate it for him at another store and make sure that it would be available for him to pick up in time for Christmas. "That's not good enough" the man shouted back... and then began to cry.

Up until this point I knew for a fact that he was just a frustrated last minute shopper. We all know how easily what we "know" can change. The real matter was this man, this unfair customer, who held me accountable for this missing size, had recently discovered that his girlfriend had cancer. She was going to fight it and, according to him, would beat it. But, his girlfriend would lose her hair, she would become weak, things would be different than before. They got the news at 4:17pm on a Friday afternoon, around 2pm they had been shopping at my store. She tried on a red, wrap around sweater - he thought she looked beautiful. He had meant to come by, to purchase the sweater a thousand times, but the doctor visits, the medications, had preoccupied his thoughts. Thirty-six hours before Christmas morning he found himself in my store desperately searching for not just a sweater; but a symbol for the fact that nothing had changed. She was still beautiful, he still loved her, and their future was still as bright as 2pm on that Friday. It was his only chance - he'd spend 14 hours on Christmas Eve by her side at the hospital waiting through two doses of treatments.

I took his information and promised he'd have the sweater in time for Christmas morning. The first store I called had the sweater and I slid it underneath his garage door at 4pm on Christmas Eve. It took me awhile to realize it; but, even the most difficult people during the holidays have their hearts in the right place. There is a universality to the season, Hamilton Wright Mabie once said, "Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love". No one wants to disappoint the people we love - that's why we compete for parking, shove each other into streetlights for ten dollar DVD players, and argue with sales people, caterers, barbers, and anyone else that gets in between us and the happiness of our loved ones. It's not because we're bad people. Really, it's because we're good people. That's why Luke 2:14 tells us, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men". Happy Holidays everyone, my prayer this month is that we can all harness the spirit of the season, be kind to one another, even in spite of the inescapable anxiety that surfaces when we rush around fighting to keep from letting anyone down.

Peace,

Ben

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