Our real treasures are with us
07-07-2008

Column 938, July 3, 2008

“Provoking Christian Insights” series



Part 38

Our real treasures are with us

“You will not always have me,” John 12:8b.

In the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan is an unusual item. It is a test tube that is purported to hold Thomas Edison’s last breath. There was no way to save Edison. His life was over. Some of his images were captured on film and his voice had been recorded on discs, both wonderful inventions he had championed. But there would be no more inventions and no more Thomas A. Edison. We had him with us for a time.



In the early years of auto racing many famed inventors and drivers died young. The sport was dangerous and even though they had achieved fame, many of those who died hadn’t lived long enough to accomplish much. The number of flyers who died in aviation accidents was astounding. Museums are filled with their planes and automobiles, but there is no one to talk to, they are gone.



I think the one thing that goes begging in museums and institutions, even our churches is the fact that we have the relics and items of the past but the people who lived the times, invented the items and gave us so much are just gone.



How many people that you have known and wanted to talk with died before you got around to visiting them?



As a writer of history I have had numerous names on my list that I wanted to interview that died prior to my making the time to talk to them.



Then there are the people who we have known that we have talked with or studied under for whom we have questions that are unanswered. In particular, I remember an old Baptist preacher named Willis S. Webb who seemed to know a lot about history. On the way to Tar Hollow church camp he would point out a ceremonial Indian mound on Route 4, and I never took the time to ask him the burning questions about the people who built the mound. Today people ask me about the supposed mound and I can only tell them what that old preacher told me. He knew more about the Indians and their mounds, I just didn’t get around to asking the right questions.



Sometimes I didn’t pay close enough attention

I had a teacher, Bess Ward, who told our class about terrorists and how lucky we were in this country not to have terrorism. I didn’t really pay close attention to what she was telling us. She brought freedom into sharp focus with a warning that came back in terrifying reality on 9-11, fifty years later.



Ward also told us that no one would teach us how to fill out an income tax form. No one ever did. She had tremendous insight. She was a Christian who shared with her students the most important information about life. I corresponded with her until her death and I treasure those letters.



Bess had a son, John, who was a classmate of mine who ignored her warnings about drinking and smoking. John died at a young age to dread Cancer.



Owen Elder was another classmate whose mother used to preach “Fire and Brimstone” to the kids in the neighborhood from her back porch. Her mini-sermons on the sores and boils, heat and fires of Hell burned indelible in my mind. Her sons grew to be fine men who returned to their native state of Alabama. Owen was the Provost at Troy University, and his brother Bill integrated basketball becoming a Ph. D. at Montgomery. They lived what their mother taught. Bill is writing his second book about growing up in Bucyrus.



Many of my elders tried to prepare me for life. They, one by one, taught me honesty is the best policy. That men and women of great faith built those big beautiful churches of our town. That the reason the steps went upward was because we answered to a higher power. Even though, at times, I appeared not to be listening, those words rubbed off.



My scoutmasters Ilene Myers and Ed Koch, together taught about our flag, our country and being prepared in all things. Old-timers, that I worked for, “listen-up” drilled performance and integrity into my 25 cent an hour job, they also filled me with stories from long ago and appreciation for those who helped me on the way up. They lived the Golden Rule and practiced it in business. They went to church and urged me to do the same. Sometimes I didn’t listen … but hidden in my heart was the foundation of God’s Word that they shared in act and deed.



Now, I wish I would have listened closer to what they said as I strain to remember their words and see their faces. I walk through Oakwood Cemetery where there are 17,000 burials. I can safely say that about half of the stones contain names I can put faces to in my nearly 71 years. There is Clayton Korner who taught me how to fix cars and keep from ruining them. Chauncy Woodworth is a preacher who instilled values in me. Robert Maugans just died, a pastor who taught a strong class on the book of Revelation. There is Julius Kish who was my stand-in father during World War II. He taught me to be kind and forgiving. His brother Alex taught me how to drive a car. Adam and Corrine Boryczka, who lived behind my parents and brought me into the newspaper business. Corrine knew who knew whom the “stinkers” were and Adam made sure I learned the work. This list is long and there are many I needed to speak with who now lie silent in the earth.



I wish I would have spoken more, listen better, and written it all down.



“You will not always have me”

During Jesus’ final days on earth, He attempted to prepare his disciples for His leaving them. They had been with Jesus for three and a half years. He made a promise that others couldn’t make … that He would never leave them alone.



Jesus said, “I will ask my Father and he will give you another Counselor to be with you in Spirit and in truth. You know him, for He lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans,” (John 14: 16-18). Jesus had been with His disciples almost around the clock every day since He called them. Now the Holy Spirit would be with them 24/7. The Spirit of the living God would be in them forever.



We will see people Jesus has saved in Heaven. But here on earth all the famous people, movie stars, singers, band-leaders, historians, and people in our past lives who died are gone. Many people mourn their lost mates, beloved parents, aunts and uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews, pastors and friends. Some they will never see or hear again because they didn’t live for Jesus and will be across the chasm in darkness.



Jesus wants very much to send us His Holy Spirit to be our friend, counselor and inspiration. We won’t have to look to find Him. He will always be there for us. And when our life is done we can look forward to being with Him forever in Heaven. Pray to Jesus to forgive your sins that you might receive eternal life and the presence of “the comforter” from this day forward. Jesus said, “today is the day of salvation.” How about today?



INSPIRATION: “Of this be sure – that I am with you always, even to the end of the world,” (Matthew 28:20)



Write: croneis@embarqmail.com