Recent Grocery Store Receipt Provides Food For Thought
by
John J. Dunphy
(Originally published in the 4/18/20 edition of The Telegraph of Alton, IL)
I got my money’s worth and a bit more when I recently went grocery shopping here in Alton. The store employee who checked me out asked if she could write some scripture verses on my receipt. I said yes: partly to be polite, and partly to see which verses in particular she chose to share with me. I initially assumed that my reputation had once again preceded me, and this young woman thought I needed a bit of spiritual guidance. Later, however, I learned from a friend that this thoughtful, caring employee often writes Bible verses on customers’ receipts.
When I returned to the book shop and checked my receipt, I found no less than four verses cited: II Timothy 1:7; Romans 15:13; Joshua 1:9; and Psalm 113. The Timothy verse reads: “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” The check-out clerk obviously thought such reassurance is especially relevant during the coronavirus pandemic. Romans 15:13 offers similar comfort with the words: “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.”
The Joshua quotation continued this theme. “Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” Psalm 103 is much too long to quote in its entirety. The verses that most impressed me stress the fragility of our species and ran “….we are dust. As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone: and the place thereof shall know it no more.”
Since my book shop is closed because of the virus, I now have a great deal of free time down here. I gave myself a break from my self-appointed task of cleaning up the place to ponder a truly unique hypothetical question. What Bible verses would I write on customers’ receipts if I were inclined to follow the example of that grocery store employee? Here are just two examples.
Ecclesiastes 3:19–20 states: “For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts…as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeeminence above a beast, for all is vanity. All go unto one place, all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.” Rather than plunging us into despair, such a blunt reminder of our own mortality should make us want to live our lives more fully. Let’s be truly aware of the beauty all around us: the changing of the seasons; the limestone bluffs and Mississippi River that flank Illinois Route 100; and the fiery splendor of each and every dawn and sunset. Watch the annual Perseid meteor shower. Visit the reconstructed Woodhenge solar calendar at Cahokia Mounds on the first day of spring and watch the sun rise in alignment with the equinox post. There is wonder everywhere!
Since we don’t know precisely when we’ll return to dust, we should live every single day as though it were our last. Squander not even a moment! To paraphrase Thoreau, don’t discover when you’re about to die that you’ve never really lived.
I would certainly share Luke 6:31 with my customers: “And as ye would that men would do to you, do ye also to them likewise.” That’s the Golden Rule, which can also be found in Matthew 7:12. The Golden Rule, in various wording, is contained in the writings of Judaism, Sikhism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and several other world religions. My customers will surely be pleased to know that empathy and compassion are known — and occasionally even practiced — the world over.
John J. Dunphy is the author of Abolitionism and the Civil War in Southwestern Illinois and Unsung Heroes of the Dachau Trials: The Investigative Work of the U.S. Army 7708 War Crimes Group, 1945–1947.