I had the honor of attending Christmas Eve candlelight service on Monday night at my church, The Journey UMC. Our pastor informed us that we could partake in a church tradition, after the service. The church made gift or goody bags available to us to take out into the world. He suggested that we drop them off with people who were at work still at the grocery stores or drug stores or where ever we could find that someone was not able to go to a candlelight service on Christmas Eve.
He suggested that we give them a bag and tell the person
that this is from The Journey UMC and that we just want you to know that we
wish you a Merry Christmas and wanted to pass to you the peace of Christ on
this Christmas Eve. (Or something like that.)
I took three of these bags. I had to go shopping after the
service, so I went to Walmart and bought groceries. I gave the first bag to the
cashier who waited on me. She took it and thanked me, set it down and went back
to work.
As I was walking out, the store manager was standing just
outside the door to tell people approaching the door that they would be closing
in just 5 minutes. I gave one of the bags to him, but he was hesitant to take
it. He stood there with his arms folded, looking at me.
Finally, he said, “You meant to tell me that this is free?”
I said, “Yes, it is free. It is from my church. We wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas.” He took it from me.
Finally, he said, “You meant to tell me that this is free?”
I said, “Yes, it is free. It is from my church. We wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas.” He took it from me.
Then, when I got to my car, a worker stood beside my buggy
and told me he would take my buggy for me as soon as I was finished with it. I
extended a bag to him.
He said, “Oh no, ma’am. I am sorry. We are not allowed to accept things from anyone.”
I said, “Really? Because I just gave one to your manager and he accepted it. So you take it too. It is from my church and we want you to have a Merry Christmas.”
He said, “My manager took one?”
I said, “Yes, he did. And you take one too. If it makes you feel more comfortable, don’t tell anyone, but you take this and have a Merry Christmas.”
He said, “Oh no, ma’am. I am sorry. We are not allowed to accept things from anyone.”
I said, “Really? Because I just gave one to your manager and he accepted it. So you take it too. It is from my church and we want you to have a Merry Christmas.”
He said, “My manager took one?”
I said, “Yes, he did. And you take one too. If it makes you feel more comfortable, don’t tell anyone, but you take this and have a Merry Christmas.”
Finally, he accepted the bag and took the buggy too.
I never knew that giving something to someone would be so
hard. But, I guess that maybe God feels the same way sometimes.
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