Volume 28, No. 42
November 9, 2003    
               
Faith, A Basket Case

  When Sylvan Goldman started pushing his invention, he had no idea he’d change the business world.  But change it, he did.

   In 1937, Goldman owned two Oklahoma City supermarkets and, like grocers everywhere, he provided customers with wicker baskets.  But he noticed shoppers headed for the cashier as soon as their basket was full or too heavy.  “The thought came to me,” Goldman recalled, “that if we could give a customer two baskets and still leave them with a free hand to shop, we could do considerably more business.”

   So the grocer had a carpenter modify a folding chair he kept in his office.  Wheels were added and the seat was raised to allow a second rack underneath the chair, which could be steered from the back.  Things looked promising but, during a test-run, the new contraption hit a wooden match on the floor and collapsed.  Undeterred, Goldman developed a more sturdy, steel-framed “basket carrier” and eagerly introduced it in one of his stores.

   But to his complete surprise, every single customer steered clear of the new shopping carts that first day.  The grocer soon learned why:  “Housewives decided, ‘No more carts for me.  I’ve been pushing enough baby carriages. I don’t want to push any more.’  And the men would say, ‘You mean, with my big, strong arm I can’t carry a darn little basket like that?’  And he wouldn’t touch it.”

   So Goldman hired a few men and women of all ages and had them “shop” near the store entrance using the new carts, with groceries on both the top and bottom racks.  When customers saw others using the new basket carriers, the carts became an overnight success.

   Even so, food stores across the country shunned the newly-patented invention.  They were afraid children would race the carts, damaging shelves and hitting customers, prompting lawsuits.  Then Goldman had an idea revolutionary for its time.  After closing hours, he got some employees to shop with the carts while a movie was made. “That way, store owners could see exactly how this worked — how easily and how well it was accepted, and how the problems a lot of them anticipated didn’t materialize at all.”  When Goldman’s salesman showed the film to store owners, orders poured in and the shopping cart is now a fixture around the world.

   That story holds some powerful lessons for those of us eager to share our faith.  After all, we want those we love to get more out of life.  We have something that will make it easier for them to carry life’s heavy load. And we want them to be satisfied and prepared before they check out.  

   Yet many people don’t see the need for what we offer.  They’re content with the choices they’re making, convinced they’re already carrying as much as they can. The last thing they want is a faith that simply lets them add more to the load.  More work.  More demands on their time.  More hassle. They don’t want to push anymore.

   Others see faith as a wimp-out for weaklings.  It’s fine for the feeble, the fragile and the infirm, but the strong will carry their own stuff, thank you very much.  They don’t need anyone to tell them what to think, or how to live.  To them, Christianity is a cop-out.

   What skeptics need, to change their minds and lives, is a demonstration.  We have to show them that faith doesn’t take away their right to think and choose.  It simply offers more and better choices while providing a means of making the weight easier to handle. “Be an example,” the Bible says, “in what you teach, in the way you live, in your love, your faith and your purity... Throw yourself into your tasks so everyone will see your progress.”  Your progress, not your perfection.  “ Stay true to what’s right and God will save you and those who hear you.” (1 Tim. 4:12,15,16)       

   How we perform speaks louder than what we profess.  So show the doubters that faith works;  that their fears are unfounded;  and that letting God ease the burden means we’re smart, not weak.   Let’s roll.

By Rick Gamble, published in Cross Current, the weekly newsletter of the Followers of Christ congregation in Brantford, Ontario, Canada.  Reprint at will in not-for-profit publications.  To subscribe, contact sgamble@bfree.on.ca