Shopping: Part One
What do you like to do when you have time off? Recently I went to visit my elderly mother, and we two ladies spent afternoons doing what we think is fun — we shopped.We’ve shopped together for at least 60 years, moving through various seasons, like the years when she told me what dress I must get when I was in school, then what top I must not get when I’m in high school, and onward to this year. Now I guide her regarding practicality and fashion.There is nothing quite like taking a 97 year old woman into a store like Stein Mart or Goodwill. Determined to find just what she wants, she pushes her walker around the clothing racks like a rabbit in a briar patch. Some times her limited vision and stooped posture cause her to push right into the other clothes racks. She is impatient and can’t wait her turn for the dressing room. I have to keep an eye on her so she doesn’t try undressing in the store itself. Mom is a short woman to begin with, but 97 years of pressure on her spine have shrunk her down and I can’t see her among the rows of clothes, when she putters off full of independence. Maybe next time I’ll attach one of those bicycle flags on a stick to the walker’s handle bars, so I can find her.This experience got me thinking about why do I shop. I mean, really, I don’t need anything. And to make matters worse, what I do purchase loses something after a few weeks of wear and tear. The backing of one new earring soon gets lost, causing me to lose the whole earring. And then, when that one earring is gone, the pair is ruined. Or the brand new sweater gets snagged on a random nail, ripping a hole in it, or the fresh white blouse gets stained with spilled coffee right on the bosom by Day Three. And then there is the new book I pick up. Once the first 50 pages are read, and I discover it isn’t a page turner after all, I set it aside. So knowing these truths, why do I get excited when shopping? Am I addicted to buying things, for the sake of the “buying” itself? Maybe it is the excitement of newness and novelty, seeing myself in a new light because of a new outfit. Perhaps it is the thrill of the hunt; you know, being proud that I found a good deal. Perhaps I like shopping for myself because it is a tangible way of taking care of myself.But this week shopping with my geriatric mom, and thinking about how much longer she has on this earth, challenged me about my values. The verse from 2 Cor. 4:18 is ringing in my head: So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. I truly can not say that I do that — fix my eyes always on the eternal. And yet I know what I buy won’t last. What I accumulate as “precious” can’t be taken with me. What I think is new and beautiful on this earth, is a boring gray compared to what I’ll see in Heaven.So now I am trying to focus on the items, actions, possessions which will last for eternity. The important things in my life are those that count for eternity. I want to de-emphasize, and perhaps even do away with material possessions. I want to get more excited about Jesus than about buying something new.Lord, help me to fix my eyes on the eternal, for your sake. What is your answer to my question? Why do we women like shopping so much? What are we going to do about our appetite for material things?
