Yesterday I was in the supermarket, anxious to get around quickly and just get home again.  You know the feeling, you have forgotten just one thing but you have to go out to get it.  My local store is undergoing huge changes to make it a 'better store'.  Why don't they just leave these things alone.  I mean I know where everything is so why change it.  Anyway, I got a bit frustrated and spent forever trying to find a Veda loaf which is an Irish bread made of malt.  I gave up and had to ask one of the assistants to help me and, bless him, he showed me it was right under my nose.  Then, just as I thought I had got everything I needed, I did a sort of double flip as I tripped over a cable which had been covered with some corrugated cardboard.  Fortunately I was leaning on a trolley and didn't make too big a fool of myself.  However.........I had been spotted performing my acrobats by a 'friend' of mine who always looks so immaculate I could kill her.  You know the sort, matching scarf thrown over her shoulder like it happened by accident but looks fabulous.  To add insult to injury, she mentioned that she had been watching television and seen my son in law come on in the last 5 minutes of play in a rugby international earlier that day.  'Such a shame,' she smiled so insincerely I cringed, 'that he doesn't get more time but then again who can match O'Gara?'  The latter is the outhalf and my son in law is on the bench for the same position.  As I walked away I was seething.

Just as I got to the check out a girl cut right in front of me and took up her position ahead of me in the queue.  I really wanted to slap her face.  Then her husband joined her and he was carrying stuff with him which meant he had more than the 10 items allocated for that particular queue.  Had I been 3 years old I would have stamped my feet and screamed.  But of course I am a respectable, middle aged grandmother, if more than a little grumpy.  Then I remembered Brother David.  Brother David is a member of the Fransican Order and a real saint of a man.  He told me recently how on a trip to England of some urgency, he was thanking God for getting him to the airport in time, finding him a good seat on a plane which was on time and arriving in time to catch the 8 o'clock coach from Bristol taking him on the rest of his journey.  The driver was in the bus, spotted David making his way, smiled and opened the coach door for him.  David was just about to board the coach when a rather large lady in uniform placed her arm in front of him and said 'No sir, you cannot board this bus.'  David looked bewildered but she was not for moving.  'No sir, you may not  get on this bus,' she repeated.  Poor old David returned to the airport, made his way to the toilets and washed his hands.  As he looked at himself in the mirror he saw a face he didn't like.  It was his own.  He immediately prayed to God to bless that same lady and he continued to bless her as he made his way back to the depot.  She was behind the ticket box and looked up when she saw him.  'You know sir,' she said, 'I wasn't trying to be funny back there.'
'Funny you should say that,' he replied, 'cause I didn't find it at all funny at the time.  I have to be in Cornwall by lunch time.'
'I'm so sorry sir,' she told him, 'but once the bus has started no one is allowed to board.  I might have been picked up on camera and it is more than my job is worth.  I'm a single parent sir and I need this job.'
'No harm done,' David smiled at her, ' what time is the next one?'
'5 mins sir, so you'll make it in plenty of time, ' she said, returning his smile.  David got on that bus waving her goodbye and feeling they were the best of friends.

I remembered this as I stood behind the lady in the queue.  She was unloading a crate of beer from her trolley.  'Bless her Lord,' I said to myself and then I looked up and saw the 'No alcohol at this till' sign.  I looked at her, smiled and said 'Sorry, but do you realise they won't take that at this till' .  She looked up, saw the sign and said 'Oh that is so sweet of you, I just didn't see it.  I would have had to take this all back out,' she said indicating the remaining cans in her trolley.  'No problem,' I said and I meant it.  Her husband smiled also and they made their way to another cash out.

I thought then about the 'friend' sympathising with my son in law's misfortune.  She had recently gone through a very painful and public divorce and her daughter had sided with her husband.  She was a woman who was hurting badly.  'God, bless her richly,' I prayed inwardly and I meant every word of it.  On the way back to my car, she waved at me and said, 'You are so lucky to have your little grandson Elaine.  He really is beautiful.'  I waved back and said we must meet up for coffee and I meant that too.  (Do you know her earrings were the exact same turquoise as her scarf?)

On a more serious note, I have tried to apply David's method of forgiveness in my every day life and I cannot tell you how I have been blessed by it.  It's hard to forgive and forget when you have been truly hurt, but just by sincerely asking God to bless the person who hurt you, you find the process of forgiving gets easier and easier.  The results are amazing and it isn't just coincidence.  I have made a list of people who have really hurt me and each day I pray that God will bless them and you know what?  It's me who's receiving the blessings.  Try it next time someone really annoys you but remember it's God who makes the difference.