I went shopping at three very different food outlets this past weekend. All three reflect how we can approach our lives both spiritually and on Earth. Sadly, many of us opt for the third choice and trudge our way through life denying ourselves the chance for an afterlife.

I’ll start with the ice cream parlor, Izzy’s. I wrote the other day about my amazing blessing in going to Izzy’s and how they hooked me up with a hand-made batch of my favorite ice cream. I returned on Saturday to pick up my loot. I walked in the door and people universally had a smile on their face and a look of anticipation about their experience. The clerk greeted me with a grin and said my ice cream was ready, they were just waiting for me to pick it up. And there it was in the cooler with my name on it. Blessing received. 

I would like to think Heaven will be like that. We anticipate it, we smile over the thought of it, and we are welcomed when we get there. Sure, along the road of life we have to work hard to make the currency to get into the place, but that work and trust all pays off in the end. Isn’t that a great way to look at it – do the work and it’s waiting for you? In our case, it means to believe and accept His Grace and you get the double scoop. I’ll go for that.

The stop before the Ice Cream parlor was Cub Foods. For those of you outside the region, Cub is a big-box grocery store. Not the high end of the scale, not the low end. I happened to go to a store in an urban area where I live. And roaming about the aisles were hundreds of people making their food choices. Many were smiling, using it as a family outing. Some looked lost in thought, some had no expression at all, just trying to get what they needed and get out.

When I got to the store I was blown away by the wonderful smells as the doors swung open. There was promise in the air (and chicken, oranges, bakery, etc.) It was a beautiful summary of what awaited me in the aisles. Couple that with the smiling people, the thinking people, and the surviving people and you have another good metaphor for how most of us live our lives. There is so much around us with potential to please and all God asks is that we pay attention and use a little bit of moderation. He wants us to be happy, but knows that there’s a need for drain cleaner, donuts, and apples all at the same time. It’s all what we make it. But if we make wise decisions we’ll eventually find that ice cream on aisle #7 before we hit the cash registers.

The final stop on the tour actually made me laugh. It’s my personal version of Hell. I had to go to an organic coop to get a gift for a friend. The doors opened and I was assaulted with the unpleasant odor of patchouli. I know it’s supposed to be brimstone, but for the life of me why you would have the stench of patchouli in a grocery store is beyond me. I wandered around looking for the buckwheat honey I needed and realized two things – everyone there was frowning and every male in the place had a scruffy looking beard. If any eye contact was made it was hostile.

I found my honey (right next to the “bee free honey” which is not honey – evidently radical vegans won’t touch real honey because a bee might be hurt making the stuff (I couldn’t make that up if I tried)) and reframed my attitude. These people couldn’t possibly all be frowning. So I put on my very best happy-idiot smile

Patented happy idiot smile.

and wandered EVERY aisle of the store looking for more victims. Honest, not one smiling face in the place.

When I went to check out they asked if I had a member number. Nope! I’m pretty sure that triggered the security cameras. And I think I got an extra “poof” of patchouli when I went past the door sensor.

That’s how some of us actually spend our lives. We’re so sure that we have the only clue to life and how to live it that we make ourselves thoroughly miserable. And we deny the joy that God wants us to have at the same time. We just know we could never be good enough so we deny ourselves the chance to accept the love and care that God has for each of us in our lives. We put on sack cloth and ashes and lash ourselves as some kind of a test. And we miss out on the good things He provides as a result.

Are you wandering around in rough cotton clothing with a frown just to prove how “pure” you are? Why? What can you do to make life better for yourself and others and still attain your goals?