Having Church at Target

By: JANA GREENE

I had church at Target today.

Waiting in an awfully long line with my grown-up daughter, I was making chitchat with the elderly woman in front of us. She was buying some sandwich bags, a package of pencils, and some medicine, which she was carrying in her hands.

This sweet older woman just buying the basics, she had the sweetest energy. At one point, she turned and said, “Honey, will you keep my place? I need a piece of candy.”

Okay, FIRST of all…if you call me “honey,” I will oblige to almost anything. It’s my kryptonite – terms of endearment. I think it’s because my grandmother called everyone honey and I miss that. I said I would, and she walked over to the next register – where there was candy – and returned to her spot empty-handed.

“Can you believe a candy bar is $2?” she said. I told her, no I couldn’t believe it. That it was highway robbery – because it is. The line moved, but in inches. Target was a madhouse.

I can try to describe this woman for you, but words won’t do her justice. She was so tiny and dressed in her Sunday best on a Friday afternoon just because she’s classy like that. Her hands were gnarled with arthritis, but you could imagine all the babies she has held in them, all the friends she has comforted with them, all the times they’ve been folded in prayer. I was drawn to her warmth – this stranger in Target.

My spirit got elbowed in the ribs. Buy her the candy bar, it said.

I told her I would be honored to get her the candy bar, that she deserves that candy bar. I could tell by the way she clutched her items that she was there only for the necessities. I know because I’ve been there. The last thing I wanted to do was insult her in any way.

“Oh no,” she said. “That’s okay! It’s too expensive.”

“Friend, I think you need some chocolate” I said. “Actually, I’d like to buy your items. Please let me bless you. Would you like the Hershey bar with almonds?”

This petite little lady set down her things on the conveyer, as we finally moved up, and pulled me into the sweetest hug. I put the candy with her things and quietly paid for her few things.

I told her she has the most beautiful countenance I’ve ever seen, because it’s true. She told me God loves me, because that’s also true. I wanted to invite her to coffee, but the world is so weird right now, and I was already being weird as it was. (I low key still wish I’d asked, though. Perhaps our paths will cross again?)

“You’re gonna make an old lady dance in the Spirit right here in Target!” And ya’ll, as God is my witness, she cut a little rug right there in the store. So I did a little dance too, because nobody likes to dance alone. (I’m not sure my daughter knew what to do at that point, and the clerk checking us out was befuddled.)

“I love the Lord!” said my new friend.

“Me too!” said I, as we hugged again.

The sweet women’s purchase was around $25. There are many, many times in my life that $25 has been too much. There are many times a Hershey bar was a hardship, and chocolate would have blessed me. There were a handful of people who helped me in ways big and small, and I never forgot it. Because why the heck else are we plodding through on this planet, if not to lean into each other? Much like Target, it’s a madhouse.

Have you ever met a stranger who wasn’t really a stranger? A friend masquerading as someone you’ve never met? It happens to me all the time, and the serendipity is a balm to the soul.

Let’s please love one another, in ways big and small. Because things are weird and “off” in the world right now, and everyone is on edge. The necessities are highway robbery.

Our interactions with each other are church.

We might as well dance, friends. And eat the chocolate.