An Old Carrier Bag
They can be a bit of an eye-sore. On the other hand they can be useful. Fancy struggling out of your local superstore, mini market or shopping mall with a pot of jam, a turnip the size of a football , five tins of Kitty Kat for the old Tom, and not forgetting Shep's Pedigree Chum, and lots more. A whole week's shopping balanced precariously in hands, arms and pockets. It would make you feel that life is hardly worth the struggle. It's here that the plastic carrier bag comes to our rescue. Mind you it can be a bit of a struggle persuading the thing to open. So, for all who frequent our local superstore may I pass on this simple suggestion, which is the outcome of years of patience, testing and experience.
The problem with the carrier bag is that the plastic is slippery (I discovered this when I stepped on one, once. It brought me down in some style.) The secret of getting that bag open is to wet the thumb and forefinger of the right hand, the left hand is just as good. Of course, you don't need to carry a bucket of water for the purpose, a lick with the tongue will do just as well. Now having got this far, move gently the thumb and the finger with the opening of the bag in between and hopefully the bag will open.
Have you noticed how much people buy in supermarkets. Why you would think food 
was going out of fashion . Mind you, I think it has something to ' do with music. Those fellows who own these stores know what makes us tick. They can make shopping an almost painless operation by the skillful use of background music. After all, who wouldn't buy a tin of peas if accompanied by the soothing strains of The Londonderry Air.
We have been to Australia a few times. It's a wonderful country of kangaroos, wombats and other bats as well , and, of course, not forgetting Australians. The weather was cloudy, windy and cold. We had landed the day before. We thought a walk down town might chase away the jet lag. I felt the cold as the wind whistled through the old bones. Now in such conditions one appreciates a bit of shelter and Woolworth's never looked so inviting. As we walked throughout the store it came to my mind that I was in need of a tin of shoe polish. I soon found the needed article, also a brush to apply the same. The girl at the cash desk took my purchases and enclosed the articles in a plastic carrier bag. Normally such bags are dispatched to the dust bin. However, this one for some reason has survived and if you were to open a certain cupboard door in our kitchen you would be confronted with a plastic carrier bag bearing the name " Woolworth" and housing my shoe shine equipment, which just goes to show that even an old plastic bag can fulfill a useful purpose.
Carrier bags are made to be filled with good and necessary things for ourselves and others. When we go shopping fruit is high on our list and our bag is usually well laden with apples, bananas, oranges, etc.
God wants us to be well laden with the fruit of the Spirit. Paul speaks of the fruit of the Spirit as Love, Joy, Peace, Longsuffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith, Meekness, Temperance.
An old carrier bag in the right hands can render good and faithful service wherever it finds itself. By God's Grace, 'We can carry the good things of the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the world.
