Tracking Packages

Not so very long ago, the phrase “Shop early with this soon-to-expire coupon” was a tag-line incentive to get us into a particular store before moving on to the inevitable competitor. The theory was sound; capture the customer with the coupon and statistically, the customer will be spending more money at the first stop than the second.

I suppose that still works, but I’ve noticed that today’s incentives also include an element of fear. I am seeing this to be quite powerful.

We still see the ‘Shop early with the soon-to-expire coupon’ but are also threatened (is that too strong?) with the notification that global supply shortages and shipping delays could prevent your package from arriving on time for Christmas! 

Shriek! I mean - SHRIEK!

Forget the coupon, man! It is the on-time delivery that is important!

We now find ourselves ordering at once so that other buyers (now our competitors) have no chance to exhaust the inventory before we can click "Buy Now". We anxiously await the confirmation email for our purchase that will hopefully include the tracking number. 

With a sigh of relief, we feel comfortable that the item is definitively ours, but we now begin to agonize hour by hour as we track each step in the progress of doorstep delivery. It is possible to automate our search if we sign up for status notifications. That works if we’re too busy to look it up every 53.556 minutes AND if we believe that these messages will truly work!

I remember watching a particular package. It was shipped from a distribution center only 162 miles away. It took nearly 10 days. I didn’t need it right away, but I was irritated that it took an abnormal amount of time since it was only 3 hours from my front door when it shipped!

This experience made me vow to personally drive the 162 miles for my next order rather than allow it to be shipped. This morning I was inspired, and I recognized that it was time to replenish this item. I looked up the address, the open for business hours, mapped the location, and was getting ready to go. I could not wait to make this trip!

And then, I remembered. I can’t go today because, of all things, I am expecting a package! This has become an element of fear-based decision-making.

Just in case, I checked again. Yes, this package was scheduled to be delivered today before 9:00 PM.

I am now held captive in my home pending a delivery without a firm time frame. I am also chomping at the bit with the desire to obtain this other item, but I don’t want it to be delivered at all. 

Should I stay or should I go? This is called a rock and a hard place.

And that begins the point of this expose’.

I felt inspired to do something and I am neglecting to do so because of my in-house captivity. The fear of missing the expected delivery means that I will spend time this morning trying to rearrange a plan of action using justifications like,

• If I go today, my package might be stolen after it is delivered.
• Since it will rain tomorrow, it will be a better day for a long drive in the car.
• Because I usually spend a good part of a typical Saturday writing, I will do that today considering I have to stay home.
• And the labyrinth that I was going to explore this weekend? I’ll put that off until next week. The temps will be warmer outside anyway.

Realistically, it is probably prudent to wait for the delivery which by default, delays my intended trip. 

But deeper thought now begs the question, “Do I make decisions that speak only to rationality?”

I believe it possible that a veiled voice, an invisible set of handcuffs, an obscure prohibition, an element of fear, or even an intentional but concealed auto-piloted decision prevents me from acting without hesitation when hearing the inspiration, the nudge, the whisper, the small still voice of God saying, “Let's do this.”

***

I am now finishing this article on Saturday. The Friday delivery did not show up. It seems that I had incomplete information. The expected package was shipped FedEx Ground Economy. This means that FedEx drops the package at the US Post Office which then takes responsibility for final delivery. My tracking number was correct in that it was delivered on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day. But of course, there is no way that I will see it before Monday. 

Not only that, but it's interesting to note that Saturday was completely rain free. I have wasted a day; maybe more than one. 

I made the wrong choice. 

I felt inspired to make the trip, and then consciously rejected that whisper for the sake of being prudent.

Even a decision based on “facts” cannot (should not) override that nudge. This is what it means to trust that God always knows what is best. Clearly, I do not.

I hope that I have learned something.  And to help me, I'm going to include Thomas Merton's Prayer as part of my spiritual day.

“My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore, will I trust you always, though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.”