I walked in a cemetery one day a few years back. I remember the day as though it were just yesterday. The things I saw and learned that day have left an indelible stamp on my mind and heart. They say the dead tell no tales, well let’s just see!
My daughter and I used to do tombstone rubbings. I can see your eyebrows lifting at that. It is a very interesting project. The older tombstones from the last century have some very lovely artwork on them. This art work is usually raised so that when you lay a paper over the artwork and rub the paper with a graphite stick you get a lovely rendering of that piece of art. It had been several years since we had done that though. My walk this time provided a much different result.
It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon; the temperature was just about perfect, even the usual abundant Wisconsin mosquito population was being held at bay. Forest Lawn Cemetery in Eau Claire, Wisconsin was just about the most peaceful place on earth that day.
I wandered about the gravestones of hundreds of departed souls. I silently gave thanks for the departed soldiers who had so selflessly given their lives for the rest of us. A gift given to folks they had never even met! Given so that we might enjoy the wonderful gift of freedom. I thought about how freedom really isn’t free unless many are willing to pay the price and lay down their lives to keep it. I was grateful to have been born in the land of the free.
I looked at the graves of small babies and my heart broke for the families who lost such dear little treasures.
I saw husbands who had lost sweet loving wives, wives who had lost the love and protection of a beloved husband.
Then the tombstones themselves, what an interesting lesson I learned from them. I saw so many grand tombstones. Made of granite, marble, brass and steal, many were carved with wonderful pictures and some even had photos on them. It seemed the grieving loved ones were trying to show us how important the lives of the departed had been. This they attempted to portray by size, style and costly materials. All this was in vain at this point in history; their stories had been lost to the ages. I thought about what the bible said about our lives here on earth being as a vapor, how true, we are here a mere breath and then gone.
What had these people really been like? Most of us will never know. How can we pass down a legacy to be remembered for those who will follow us?
My eyes fell on a plain little gravestone. I hardly would have noticed it. It belonged to a Christian couple. His name was John and his side of the stone read 1838-1929 Nearer My God To Thee. Her name was Louisa and her side said, Louisa 1838-1929 To Know Her Was To Know The Lord She Loved And Served. My heart jumped inside me and tears came to my eyes. Though I never knew anything about this woman before, I suddenly knew volumes about her.
She had the plainest of tombstones, no vain display of importance here, only the words on that stone. What a true honor for those of us who hold our hope in the Lord, to be remembered with such words! Think of it, to know you would be to know the Lord you love and served. I know my life has not even come close to hitting that mark. I envied not those with the huge tombstones, but that woman with her humble submitted life. Over the years, I have made Louisa and John’s tombstone a place I stopped by to get my bearings and see what really is important in this life. Tenderly placing flowers on their grave, I silently thank them for this inspiration and to the Lord for taking me on this tour of the tombstones. You see, the dead can tell tales!
"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' Matthew 25:21
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment