Life is like a man on his first day at a new job at a new Tesco where Budgen’s used to be. His manager was called Uma. As the manager she wasn’t very interactive and didn’t really speak to this man along with all the other staff, apart from a couple of people.
This man didn’t really know what he was doing so wandered around aimlessly. At one point he was aware he had something he was carrying on his hip as he felt the weight of it – it was a water container. At one point it was there then another it was gone.
He had forgotten how long a days work could be in a shop.
The uniform policy seemed very lacking. He was still in his jacket at one point and didn’t have anywhere to put it. He knew he’d get hot so needed somewhere to put it down. He looked at some of the others who seemed to not all be in standard uniform. He went out the back of the store to find somewhere for his jacket.
He discovered outback that the building had some of Budgen’s old features that he remembered from his time working there before. He saw a partition that didn’t look very strong. He saw the florists next door. They were stocking up which is what had been happening in the Tesco’s store and now both were ready to open. He went upstairs and the staff room had become a classroom which had all wooden desks and chairs which were old school. Literally! The shop was being used for other purposes as well! Another staff member came in and said something about the refreshments in the corner.
There were a couple of customers who came in that made him realise even more that he didn’t know what he was doing. He recognised them as they passed. He thought ‘I can’t do checkout duty, I am not trained’. All the other staff looked happy and seemed to know what they were doing apart from him. He realised that his shirt was hanging out and he looked at the other guys shirts they were all tucked in. Uma was watching him. He went out the back again and tried to tuck his shirt in with difficulty.
At some point the man went out the front of the building and looked at it from the outside and saw the florists on the corner. There were two other stores, a stationers on the near corner and a smaller shop in-between the florists and the stationers. Both businesses were attached to Tesco’s. Everything was all smart and new and well organised. He did notice some text on the walls which he couldn’t quite make out. It was common to all three shops. It was a cursive text in quite large letters but he was just trying to work it out when he was distracted.
There was a cheery feel about the whole shop regardless of his state of being. That included the workers within it.
I don’t know about you but there is something about this man which is familiar especially in what he is experiencing in this life that relates to the shop.
The main action of the story is about a man who seems a little lost in his new position as a shop assistant in a new Tesco’s store. For those of you who are from overseas Tesco’s is a large supermarket in the UK which has some smaller outlets like this one in the story. They are often known as Tesco’s Express. It is a store that mainly sells food and other basic products including newspapers but in the larger stores you can now find small electrical items and clothing. Budgen’s is another kind of store which was a small scale store in the past but subsequently has been taken over by Tesco’s.
The parable if you like is about being part of something bigger. The man in it is not sure where he fits in to it. There’s no other way for the man, he just needs to get on with work. He is part of this larger store. That’s somewhat like life I would say. This man is a worker in a shop, he is taking stock (pun intended) of his surroundings. He does a lot of of observing.
I would like to unpack some more of the parable and examine some of the details. If I miss anything you may see something and maybe it will help you in your life.
In the parable there is a manager who appears a little distant and aloof. Her name is Uma. I did a little research on the meaning of Uma. Her name has various meanings. The first one I found is flax which comes from Sanskrit.
Flax is an important plant which has had various uses over the past including fibres for cloth, rope, paper and seeds for eating. it was also used in the mummification process in ancient Egypt and demonstrated purity. For more about flax look here.
There is a sense that Uma is looking to the man to take initiative and ask her for help. Yet the man is looking to her to tell him what to do. They both need to work together in partnership in this work scenario.
Flax is used in business. Uma is a business manager and is somewhat like the Holy Spirit who longs for us to work with him. Who’s in charge? Remember who the boss is. We are all workers under authority.
Interestingly I did another search for Uma that came up with three work related results that kind of fit with the idea that she is conveying in the parable. These are below:
- UMA—Universal Market Access A decentralized financial contracts platform built to enable Universal Market Access
- User-Managed Access (UMA) is an OAuth-based access management protocol standard. Version 1.0 of the standard was approved by the Kantara Initiative on March 23, 2015.[1]
- Uma workspace The workplace is no longer somewhere that should box you in. It should adapt to your needs and move when you move. It should surprise and inspire you, even when you’re on the run. We want to transform work for modern professionals with our flexible workspaces,
You may have wondered, this parable is actually about me. I thought it would be fun to see whether I could take a dream of mine and turn it into a parable. What happens in the parable reflects what is going on in my life. I have a gardening business which is reflected by the florister. I am endeavouring to write articles and create content which is reflected by the stationery shop. Yet I am like you the reader, part of a bigger thing going on. Part of the Kingdom of God and he is about stretching us to be more than we currently are.
There are also things in my life that have become sloppy and they need tightening up. I need to take initiative like we all do at times and have the courage to step out. The Lord will be there to help us by the power of his Spirit who I believe is represented by Uma. He doesn’t entirely remove old things from our lives as they are there to assist us, to help us to flourish as long as we don’t miss-handle them.
We all are unique but all have a place in the Kingdom of God in moving that forward.
Restore, O Yahweh, our fortunes like the streams in the Negeb. Those who sow with tears shall reap with rejoicing. He who diligently goes out with weeping, carrying the seed bag, shall certainly come in with rejoicing, carrying his sheaves.
Psalm 126:4–6 (LEB)