They're Everywhere!

I've seen them running amok in the wind!
I've seen them ram peacefully resting automobiles without provocation!
I've seen them in ditches and roadside bogs!
I've even seen people steal them!
Shopping carts are everywhere and when they escape the safety of the store, anything goes. I think they are not too smart.

There is a special class of person that gathers those errant carts. They are the Cart Shepherds!

Some people are cruel to them. Most people take Cart Shepherds for granted … until there is a shopping cart shortage. Their job has no educational or vocational skill requirements, hence the pay is minimal. It is an often-scoffed first job for teens. Working in the elements day in and day out, personal hygiene is a lesser priority. Often the job is filled by a person with a disability, and for some, that is their version of the American Dream.

As essential as the job is, Cart Shepherds have no social value.

I suspect if the birth of the Messiah was announced tonight, the angel Gabriel would be sent to visit Cart Shepherds! They are hard working, under appreciated, taken for granted, and socially scorned. That is exactly the kind of people God invited to that first Christmas.

One of my favorite parts about the Christmas narrative in the Bible is when the birth of Christ is announced to the shepherds. Like our modern day Cart Shepherds, those folks were considered socially inconsequential. Obviously, God viewed them vastly differently than society did.

So I am wondering: What would happen if I viewed Cart Shepherds the same way God does?