Going The Extra Mile

 I went to Walmart the other day.  Something I do as a part of the middle-class ritual.  Sometimes I visit other stores with fewer choices and higher prices just to avoid crowds. But Walmart has most the things I need and I can wear my sweat pants and no one notices.   

While at Walmart, I thought I would pick up a few items for my diet.  I am trying to lose weight again. Three peaches, two bags of frozen vegetables and a box of rice. I didn’t think these staples would get me through a pre-season football game, but maybe, if I eat enough vegetables and rice, it will keep me out of trouble.

 I was clearly under the express limit of twenty items, so I went to the express check out and got in line.  I stood behind a young Hispanic woman who was obviously pregnant and had a small child on her hip.  She started emptying her cart onto the counter. In all she had well over forty items, including a few cases of coke and a large sack of potatoes. She piled up the counter not once, but twice.

I smiled and was patient.  The cashier was apologetic that she did not see the woman’s cart before she unloaded it.  Several customers behind me rolled their eyes, groaned, and asked if the girl couldn’t read.  I waited, smiled, bought my items and did not complain. “Maybe she made a mistake and got in the wrong line,” I thought.  Anyway, we ought to give a break to a young woman with a child on her hip and a baby in her womb. She is trying to feed and take care of her family.  I am just trying to stay on a diet. I was feeling rather good about myself for not complaining or rolling my eyes. 

 After I got home, I started thinking.  Why didn’t I offer to help the young woman?  I could have lifted the potatoes and cases of coke. I could have helped her with her basket. Maybe I could have offered to pay for her grocery bill.  Was it enough to simply smile and not complain?  I could imagine Jesus saying, “Don’t be so smug. If I had been there, I would have helped the girl.” 

 “Okay, Lord,” I said.  “I am listening.” But sometimes ‘going the second mile’ is hard to do.  Not so much because I don’t want to do it, but because I simply miss the opportunities.”

 Jesus gave us the concept of “going the extra mile” in his Sermon on the Mount.  “Whoever compels you to go with him one mile, go with him two,” (Matthew 5:41). He also gave us the clearest example of “going the extra mile” when he told us the story of the Good Samaritan, (Luke 10:30-37).   

 Every day we have opportunities to “go the extra mile.” To do something unexpectedly nice for someone.  They occur when we are going about our daily lives, at work, at school, shopping, wherever we go, whatever we do. We just need to open our eyes and see others the way Jesus sees them.  Sometimes it is the little things that change the world.