By Klaus Döring
When it comes to very special department stores, the world has a few legendary destinations, ranging from hyper-luxury flagships to local, one-of-a-kind treasures. These stores go far beyond basic shopping by offering iconic architecture, custom services, and massive entertainment features to create an unforgettable retail experience.
Once upon a time, I drifted back on my lifetime's way. That's not bad. That's sometimes really helpful. During my journey back, suddenly I saw a nameplate: Heavenly Department Store.
I came closer. The door opened itself wider and wider. A swarm of angels gathered together. One of them presented a shopping basket to me. "Enjoy your shopping, but do it carefully!" Everything that a Christian needs, could be bought in this department store. If one couldn't carry everything home, one could be back the next day, get the last bit and buy even more.
At first, I bought PATIENCE, the quality of enduring with calmness. LOVE, the human affection, was on the same shelf. A little bit deeper, I found SYMPATHY, the sharing of emotion, interest, and desire, and COMPREHENSION, the capacity of the mind to perceive and understand together with APPRECIATION, the setting of a valued one.
I added packages of WISDOM, the knowledge and the capacity to make use of it and additional bags of FAITH, the belief especially in a revealed religion. I relaxed a couple of minutes and then, I looked for STRENGTH, the important power or vigor and bravery and fearlessness. They should help me to continue my forward to the future. I thought to myself, that I shouldn't forget MERCY, the leniency shown to a guilty person, and REDEMPTION, the deliverance from sin.
My basket was already stuffed and I started looking for the cashier. One the way there, I found the PRAYER. I needed it to avoid running dead straight into a sin. An angel also advised me never to forget PEACE AND JOY, hymn of praise and chant.
Now it was really time to pay for all those things. But the angel smiled and told me, "Take everything with you, wherever you may go." I asked, "What do I owe you?" The angel answered, "Nothing, somebody already paid your bills a long time ago. His name was Jesus!"
I found this fabulous and wonderful fantastic story in my published columns from September 1988, during my time in Abra while writing a column for the mission oriented TINIG NG BAYAN - a magazine for Filipinos abroad. This here is a revised version, because my opinion is that, no matter where we are living on this globe, we should try to project this timeless legend onto our very personal daily life. You'll find out that it helps to survive in our life struggles. It's important to realize that we must be able to administer our valuable treasure of vital life energy, instead of frittering away with it such as knick-knacks.
