The time is currently 0415 in the morning. I've been awake since 0308. Sleep interupted.
For the past hour or more I have been thinking about the second entry of my lost sleep series.
Catchy title (not really the title).
Retail has become a cut throat business over the years, because every business is vying for your dollar.
Each company and retail outlet is trying to outdo the other. With neatly stocked shelves, recessed lighting, to make your buying experience more intimate, microphoned specials and satelite music, shopping has become almost a gimmick.
Having worked retail in various capacities for 15-20 years I have seen a seismic shift in 'customer service'. With this change of business model, the smaller mom and pop stores are all but extinct.
This fast paced, social media generation has lost touch with themselves and humanity.
Just in my own experience i can recall with great sadness several people who have come through the doors where i work, heavy hearted and in need of company and someone to talk to, just to break the cycle of loneliness, only to be given the standard reply "I'll be right with you", because we are one person, with very little time to stop and help everyone.
An older lady named Nancy stopped in one day and she was grieving the loss of her husband of over 50 years. I tried to have a sympathetic ear and console her, but with a line of inconsiderate and impatient people, I could not spend the time with her I would have liked to. Nancy thanked me for my helping her and walked away unsatisfied. I later on felt like jumping off a cliff.
This is what Isaiah is talking about when he says learn to do well; seek judgment, relieved the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. The core essence of retail is the customer service. If we are so focused on herding them in and out within 30-60 seconds in order to make room for the next one, then we have lost our way. I have fallen into this habit and the personalness and connection to the people is
not made. I lose my identity. The core essence of Israel is God. The core essence of God is His love, mercy and grace. Yet the inhabitants of Israel have forgotten about the lost and hurting, the one who is alone, and being a voice for those who have none and speaking against those who put down others.
In an attempt to be more modern and relevant, we become more like those around us instead of maintining our identity and setting the standard for them. God says we are set apart, as a nation and as a person. To step back into what He has brought us out of will only make the line more blurred and cause many to be walk away unfulfilled and unsaved.
God bless.
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