Monday was my day off and I spent a little time reconstructing a distant relative’s family. As a genealogist, I have to follow any clues but cannot jump to conclusions without proof. I knew three facts about her: She was named Annie Moore, born in Brooke County, Virginia in 1825, and married William Henderson. Both are common names and hard to verify. One online source I found said she died in 1847 in Tebe, Cuanza Norte, Angola.
I figured that had to be an error, so I checked for a William Henderson in Arizona in the 1850 census (assuming there was a transcription error and ‘Angola’ actually should have been ‘Arizona’. No luck. So I googled “Cuanza Norte, Angola’ and was surprised to find there was such a place in Africa. World travel in 1847 was usually one way: “Go west, young man”. With the absence of records from Africa, I assumed I had hit a dead end.
Then I noticed that her next older brother, John Moore, was an ordained minister in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Although I’m using imagination here, I suspect William and Annie Henderson were missionaries to this primitive African nation, where she died. I find no record of her husband, either.
And that got me to thinking: We spend our lives on this spiritual journey. Some leave their mark and are remembered for their labors. Yet some make great sacrifices and are soon forgotten. Only treasures stored in heaven will last.
Tags: forgotten, treasure
When I was about Tom Sawyer’s age there was genius advertising campaign someone came up with. They designed an advertising flyer for some event and arranged to have it dropped all over the town of Butler from a small airplane. I was out riding my bicycle with some friends when the drop happened. It was absolutely beautiful to see all those 8½ x 11 papers floating down from the sky. Absolutely brilliant advertising idea!
But the pilot was a little less than genius. When he dropped those hundreds of beautiful pieces of paper, the wind carried them blocks to the northeast where they dropped over open fields in what is now the Eastside High School and Maxton’s Park area.
My bicycle buddies and I ran into the fields to retrieve our booty. Hours later we had gathered stacks and stacks of advertisements. It was so cool! Then someone asked the obvious question, “What are we going to do with all these?” We were so excited about harvesting what seemed so valuable that we never asked the question, “Why?”
I think life can be like that. We can manically race around trying to get all we can get. Then, when we have to give account for our lives on judgment day, we will look back over what we have and ask the obvious question, “Why?” Did all that stuff really matter when we could have much more wisely invested our time and talent.
Ask yourself the question, “What are we going to do with all these?”
Tags: collect, greed, judgment, seeker, treasure, waste
It was a secret only a few knew. Along the banks of the railroad track about a quarter of a mile north of US 6 at the east edge of Butler was a wonderful wild strawberry patch. When I was a kid I discovered this treasure and I rode my bike there for a snack for several years. Nothing tastes better than something you can get for free. Because I wanted to keep the berries for myself I never told anyone.
Is it possible that we want to keep the secret of God’s love for us all to ourselves, so we keep it a secret from others? There is always a never ending supply of grace available. Don’t keep that secret any longer; tell someone else what a treasure you have found.
Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which when a man has found, he hides, and for joy of it goes and sells all that he has, and buys the field” (Matthew 13:44).
What treasure have you found that you kept secret?
Tags: hidden, secret, treasure