I must be like my mother in law, and stop buying the clothes and sit and wait for God’s Holy Will.
My mother in law – may God rest her soul – used to love to shop for clothes.
And more specifically, she used to love to shop for clothes on sale. She was a real bargain hunter.
She would look and look through the shops over a period of time and just make note of what she would like to buy one day and then each time she visited the shops she would check in on the price again.
On the day when the clothing went on sale, she would buy it and be very proud of herself for the bargain that she had bought.
I liked this about my mother in law, because I have a similar strategy when I shop for clothes. I tend to just observe what is available in the shops and wait for the moment when things will be on sale and the make purchases then – even if I do not require the clothes at that time – because I know that they will come in handy at a future point in time.
The thing about bargain hunting is that you have to be prepared to take a gamble. You need to commit to buying an item that you may not need to use for some time. This means that you need to consider trends and fashion before buying and should be aware that you may hang onto the item for years prior to actually wearing it.
When my mother in law was diagnosed with a terminal illness just over a year before she died, the first thing that she stopped doing was shopping. When her children asked her whether she would like to shop, she would reply, “There’s no need. I won’t need any more clothes. I have plenty of clothes for the rest of my life.”
And I have been thinking about that today. You see, bargain hunting reminds me of the required preparation for eternal life.
The first part of it requires delayed gratification. After all, when you are hunting for a bargain, you do not buy the first item you see. Instead, you look and look and wait for the right time and then – ONLY then do you make the purchase. And this is just like eternal life – things might not eventuate quickly. You might need to live for one hundred years on this Earth before you are able to see God. And then you must always keep your eye on the prize. When you note that there is a reward coming – an event to wear an outfit to – you need to plan ahead for that and search through your clothes to find an appropriate thing to wear.
And then – when everything is said and done – I must be like my mother in law, and stop buying the clothes and sit and wait for God’s Holy Will.
Because at some point in time God is going to ask me to stop and listen. And I pray for the Grace to do just that when He speaks my name…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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