Total Strangers United by the Same Spirit
A few months back I was doing my grocery shopping at the
local Giant Eagle where I live. The store was crowded with
the usual menagerie of people: college students shopping
together for their apartments, mothers with children asking
for goodies and exhausted families with carts full to the
brim. I was on my usual hurried mission to get what I
needed and get out as quickly as possible. (Shopping is not
one of my favorite activities.) Little did I know that I was in
for the most unusual shopping excursion of my life.
I had just entered the produce department when a man
passed and bumped into me, seemingly not to notice, as
he sang and danced to the music on his iPod.
Spontaneously, (and because I knew the tune), I sang the
next line. Obviously surprised by my musical response, he
sang back to me, and then both of us laughed at the
craziness of the moment as we continued to sing. There we
stood, among the tomatoes and the avocados, music being
the only thing we had in common. Before long, we had the
attention of others. The cooks in the meat department
chimed in, and then the cooks in prepared foods, doing
unrehearsed dance moves while singing along. Pretty
soon, like a spontaneous flash mob, the entire produce
department was full of singing shoppers. Finally, the song
ended, we all clapped and cheered, then resumed our
shopping as if nothing unusual had occurred. A normal day,
a boring trip to the grocery store and total strangers, united
by the common bond and spirit of music. You never know
when or where the Holy Spirit will manifest, or who will be
the harbinger. Despite our differences, strangers somehow
were united in one blessed and special moment. If that can
happen at a supermarket, imagine what can happen when
Christians are united by the same faith, the same Church,
the same prayers, and the same God?! ~Ginny Ambrose
