Generally, on Sundays after church, I do some running around related to school or other odds and ends I failed to pick up the day before. With extra energy this morning and the sun rising, I attended 8:30 service and then headed to the Dollar Store to pick up some items. I thought I would encounter absolutely no one due to the "early time." However, I was wrong. 

As I was searching for some cards and other items, I could not help but notice differences in this store compared to other stores. There was an energy and a friendliness. But there was also a connectivity amongst the people shopping and also working behind the register. Either everyone knew everyone or everyone was interesting in getting to know everyone. Regardless, these are two abnormal ideas that maybe we should carry in our pockets when we find ourselves only caring about our own agenda during our shopping sprees.

I think a lot of us think it is simply a way of life when we walk around a store without anyone asking us a single question. Usually, if we think about it, unless we drop something or cannot find our money or accidentally bump into someone, we dare not talk to those we do not know. We live in such an independent keep to yourself society. And truly, most people are so busy listening to their headphones or cellphones whilst shopping, that it is quite possible they do not notice the people around them. 

Anyways, this energy I felt was truly the definition of neighborhood. I began to notice small things for certain as I was checking out. There was a lot of joking and a lot of humor. There was a seriousness and an urgency missing in the checkout line that I normally see. No one was rolling their eyes at me because I had 13 binders I needed to ring up. No one asked if they could go in front of me. The guy behind me was buying food for his dog. The lady behind him asked to see the dog (they may have known each other.) The guy left the line, went to get his dog and came back into line. The lady behind the register started talking about how one of the regulars is always singing songs in the store, but you can never tell what he is singing. All eight people in line seemed to know the "regular" she was talking about because they began to laugh and joke and banter. All NINE people were having a conversation, at the same time, in a checkout line, when they obviously have things to do. 

Or they recognize what they actually have to do is not all that important.

Yeah, but remember they were not viewing this as a store or just a shopping spree. Their journey to the store was an opportunity to be part of a story. Funny how the word STORE and STORY are so similar. A story with lines and humor and words and people. Whether they knew eachother or not, they wanted to exchange stories and thoughtful encounters and parts of their lives. There was a recognition that this store is part of a larger story. The story of neighborhood and old timers. The story of neighborhood and new comers. The story that says stop. The story that says listen. The story that says "wait a minute I have something important to say to you because you are my family."

You learn a lot by just watching the world around you. You learn a lot by watching people who are living out the very breadth of the word "community" in every sense of the word.