Richly Dressed

Get out, and NEVER COME BACK!

Our ears opened to hear these words screamed from a door held open by a Dollar Store employee. Our eyes were drawn to a dejected masked in blue woman, and we heard her clear but quiet response, I'm not planning on it.

We see her walking and a man with whom she is acquainted, speaks to her from his seated on the sidewalk position: he inquires who was, and why were they, screaming at her, as though she was the insulted one. When we enter the store, my son and I, in tandem, congratulate the store clerk with the words, Good for you. Not long afterward, the man from the sidewalk enters in, mumbling and wandering. Perhaps he was ready to white in shining armour vindicate his woman, after her having been maltreated? He made me nervous, and thankfully he wasn't long in the store. 

Last week, there was a scrawny man fitted with security guard apparel manning the inside entrance of the very same Dollar Store. I found it a curiosity to see him there, and last night gave me the answer I had unconsciously been looking for. Drug addicts, dear reader, frequent these stores, and many others, and they are a hazard to encounter, and can be deadly if dealt with too closely. When the mind is gone, where have good senses departed to?

Look now with me at the poor in spirit richly dressed. The man on the sidewalk wore winter coat, and a black mask hung below his chin. He was winter in Canada ready, and so was the woman he travelled with... long black fake fur lined hooded coat, boots, blue mask over mouth. They weren't just winter ready, they were virus protected (my little unfunny poke/joke at what is completely nonsensical, since they were druggies and exposed themselves to danger on the regular, without concern for the peril they put themselves in daily; so why be afraid of a pretend virus whose 'threat' has long since past?).

Get out, and NEVER COME BACK!

The security guard was no where to be seen, but someone was clearly, minding the store. Dear reader, we must do so too. We must guard the entrance way into our minds, hearts, souls. We must notice who tries to thieve from us, undermining our well-being and security. We cannot count on a paid employee in garb that suggests they will take care of evil-doers on our behalf, we must be the ones that make bold and loud statements: Get out, and NEVER COME BACK!, when we have been threatened, violated, insulted, maltreated, misrepresented, viciously attacked.

The poor in spirit drug addicts sought to take care of their own needs at the expense of others in ways you and I can innumerate. Selfish, self-absorbed people think of self only, and it matters not what harm they do to others. Don't worry about their muted and numbed out feelings, dear reader, because they could care less about yours.

So, I ask you, who would you like to tell, Get out, followed by the scream, and NEVER COME BACK! The richly dressed, whether street wandering side walk sitters, or mansion dwellers with luxury at every turn, are the same if their spirit is poor and riddled with the ugliness of self-indulgence. Rude doesn't care where a person lays their head at night, Rude will be Rude not matter what. 

I want us to be honest with each other. We are in a time of great apostasy. We are in a time when witnessing crime without punishment is now the norm. People say and do vulgar things without shame, and our indignation is not enough if we do not rebuke those that are far too comfortable with themselves, to gauge their impact and modify what they say and do. Ethically, morally, we must be the backbone, the connective tissue, the sinew, so that there is something to compare, between the lost to selfishness, and those that want to serve the King of kings, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 

That store clerk did what so many will be doing in the near future. I suspect that her intolerance for nonsense had her taking action, maybe for the first time, but definitely not for the last time... I sure hope it is a sign of what is to come. We get to say STOP, NO, GET OUT, and NEVER COME BACK, when it is apropos. 

I am off now dear one, leaving you to consider what and whom and when and where you want to take up your banner and fight crime. All crime, has a moral component, fighting it is our duty, to God and one another. Off you go now too, to be righteous in the world I pray, in Jesus Name. 

NOTE: If store clerks display bravery, why in God's mighty name, have pastors, magistrates, doctors, police officers, teachers, etc, been so very weak and cowardly in these past several years? And when will they step up to the plate and protect those that see them as security guards for what is right and true?

They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us  (1 John 2:19)