Words for Worship

Ministry Today

CHRISTMAS ENCOUNTERS

 

'Argos takes care of it' .....

that's what the catalogue cover says,

and as I pulled into the car-park

adjacent at the Olympia centre,

I sincerely hoped that it would be true.

 

Last minute shopping –

no hassle –

an empty space for the car –

a ticket from a machine

clever enough to print details

of arrival time

but not bright enough to give out change ...

and I was off,

heading in the direction

of the store named after

the ancient merchant traders

of Venice.  

 

I think it was named after them,

and not after the legendary heroes

who sailed with Jason

in search of golden apparel –

I certainly didn't want to be fleeced.

 

It was late afternoon

and Christmas lights twinkled everywhere.  

Distant, detached music

filtered through the sounds

of the traffic

'Deck the halls with boughs of holly,

this the season to be jolly'   

 

This sentiment wasn't obvious

on the faces of a couple

laden with parcels

and looking for their car  

 

 

As I passed I heard one of them mutter.  

"Look, it was last Saturday that

we left it here.   

Today we parked on the third floor

of the Overgate '

 

A quick sprint across the road

at the lights

and into the welcoming warmth

of the  famous store.  

 

All these stores look alike - Don't they?     

 

Numbered products neatly arranged

on tiered shelves –

a bit like a gigantic tombola stall.  

 

Rows of TV sets ranged along one wall with zombie like faces

staring at them.

 

In one corner there is

always the jewellery counter.   

 

Around it is a hoard of

adoring female customers

and they’re fed up

male companions.

 

 I suppose they were the original

Bored of the rings!

 

Anyway, enough of these awful jokes.  

 

First things first.  

 

Look for the section

where the order details

can be completed.    

 

"Get your hands off that!"

a mother screamed at a child

 "There's a wire connecting them.  

Touch that,

and you'll set of more Bells

than they have

in a distillery"

 

Good, there's a space in front

of the catalogues.   

 

Take paper and pen

and open the book.   

 

Now where was it ....

no, not among the garden equipment ....

try further back.  

Back and forward I go

rustling the pages.   

 

A dazzling display of goods

jumped out at me

from AA membership

to Christmas tree decorations.    

 

Here is one of life's major mysteries.   

 

How is it that Argos is happy

to display all their products

in a glossy book

yet give you them

in plain-covered boxes

marked with a number

big enough to be located by

a CIA surveillance satellite?  

 

Do you ever get the feeling that

there's something shady going on?     

 

Now I've got my slip ready

and join the long queue

leading to the sales assistant

who will process

my purchase.  

 

I am standing in line

when I hear the assistant,

up ahead, say

"Do you want batteries for that item, Madam".  

 

I couldn't hear the reply

for the raised voice

from the next aisle.

 

"Parachuting!.  

You must be crazy ....

Anyway, I didn't know

there was a place

where you were allowed

to shoot parrots in Scotland.

 

"Do you need batteries"    

The question came through louder,

this time.  

 

Again, I lost the reply.  

 

You know how

I can't avoid eavesdropping

on conversations.   

 

This time it was a couple of ladies

three in front of me.

 

One was saying to the other –

He wants Microsoft windows

for his computer.

 

The other replies –

can he no get them from Everest

like the rest of us"

 

Again I heard the question coming from a salesgirl

 "Do you require batteries?

 

"Do you require batteries?"  

'How times have changed', I thought.   

When I was a child,

the only thing you needed batteries for was a torch,

now you need them

for almost everything

 

 Electronic games,

powered cars,

CD players,

remote controllers,

musical keyboards...

the list goes on and on.

 

"You'll need batteries for that item, sir,

otherwise you musical reindeer

won't sing 'Rudolph'"   

 

Still the same question.  

 

Isn't it ironic.

 

There we were all warm and cosy

inside a store

with someone buying

musical decorations

to be put up for a fortnight,

while outside in the cold

there's a geezer selling copies of

the Big Issue,

who hasn't got a home

to hang any decorations in –

at any time of the year!

 

Electric power has transformed life

for all of us.    

 

Every day millions of appliances,

from the morning toaster

to the evening bedside light,

feel the surge of power flood

through them   

 

My great grandparents

would be amazed

at what this power

can accomplish.  

 

Energy constantly on tap

channelled underground,

crossing the skyline on pylons

or packaged neatly

in orange and black containers.   

 

We seem so powerful yet ....

 

...we're powerless when

 it comes to transforming life

for the planet’s people.   

 

Still, we long for peace to come

to the hearts

and lives of folk.

 

 Still we hope for a new order

where humans matter

more than things.   

 

Still we want those with power

to change things

for the good of all ....

no matter their creed,

colour

or condition.

 

Maybe we need to find

some new power source

that can really effect change.  

 

Batteries

that can be snapped

into frozen human hearts

to melt them.    

 

Now , didn't the prophets say

something about God’s power –

what did they say….

 

My reverie was broken by a voice:   

"Can I help you, Minister"  

I looked up into the smiling face

of the salesgirl.  

 

I had reached the till.     

Nimbly she punched in

the numbers written

on my slip  

"That's a  solar battery charger  at £19.99.   

 

I couldn't resist it

 "Then I won't need batteries ...."    

 

"No", she replied.  "

all the power you need –

will come from the  Sun"   

 

Amen

 

St Luke’s   24/12/01

 

 

Heard in Argos