The Shopkeeper

Dear lovely people,

James 4:11 (NIV) “Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it.”

It was exactly six in the morning, Binda waited in vain for the John the village baker to deliver bread. At school time, there was still no sign of John and so Binda’s children went to school that morning with hunger. Unknown to Binda, no other person in the village was served bread that morning creating a lot of confusion. This got many tongues wagging and the story did not end there…

John did not bake bread that morning at all due to the fact that Jethro, the village shopkeeper did not open his doors the previous evening and so John could not buy all he needed as usual to be able to bake bread. In that village, it was customary to do shopping in the evenings at Jethro’s shop and the story did not end there…

Jasmine a single parent, was unable to pay for her daughter’s urgent medication that same morning because she relied so much on John purchasing eggs from her farm and paying cash as usual. She was counting on that money to settle her bills at the hospital and the story did not end there…

Just because John the village baker did not supply bread that morning as expected, the entire village came to a standstill, nothing was moving, engagements where broken, promises could not be kept and all sorts of appointments where missed and the story did not end there…

Many people in that village have been calling the shopkeeper names. Many are those who thought that his shop sold at exorbitant rates, others said he functioned like a precolonial capitalist and when the shopkeeper’s shop was sealed the previous morning for unjustified tax claims, many are those who rejoiced. Some were happy and gossiped about it among themselves, very few are those who could figure out the obvious consequences on the entire community. While the shopkeeper cried and complained of injustice matted on him, many are those who mocked him and told him to go to hell and the story must end here.

…and so, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn’t concern you or join the crowed to mock at them, remember, when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk. We are all involved in this journey called life. No matter where you are, no matter who you are and no matter what you do, we must keep an eye out for one another in our various communities and make an extra effort to encourage one another. Each of us is a vital thread in another person’s tapestry.