Heroes of Faith

Have you been to the cemetery lately? Maybe you went out and put flowers on a grave of a grandparent, parent, spouse or other loved one. Maybe you paid your respects to a veteran. Maybe you just like to walk through and read the headstones. Whatever your reason, if you paid attention, you may have noticed that parts of cemeteries tend to have less flowers and decoration than others. In the Astoria Cemetery, especially, you can see how the older, more northern portion of the cemetery is quieter while the southern and western portions are much more vibrant.
And the reason seems pretty simple: those who have been gone longer don’t have people still alive who knew them.
And that’s kind of sad, right? After a generation or two, we might remember a great-great grandpa’s name, but we probably never met him. We might know a story or two about that great aunt but only because we were told it by someone else. And that might be sad, but that’s just a reality of life. And it’s not necessarily that they are forgotten, it’s just that we never knew them. We never had a relationship with them. And so we don’t decorate their graves.
And that’s the nature of life. It is only through stories and experiences that things get passed on. Usually those stories that last the longest are the stories that are written down…maybe I should start journaling. But as much as we might forget or never know things about our ancestors, we all owe a great deal to them. We wouldn’t be where we are if it weren’t for a grandparent or a great-great uncle or someone in our past. And, obviously, there are those in our genealogy that caused pain to our family, we all have some good on that family tree as well.
And that’s especially true for a community. I’ve greatly appreciated the Houses that the school has been doing these past couple of years (Go McNeil!) and the histories that are tied to each house. I think it helps us understand how we have the community we live in. However, I think that’s especially true for the church. As much as some of us churches like to be independent and look at our own issues, we all have some common ancestry that we are standing on. Hebrews 12.1 begins, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses…” (NIV) and reveals to us that there are millions who have come before us to get us where we are. We truly stand on the shoulders of great men and women throughout history. And I pray we don’t forget that history because if we stand proudly on their shoulders, we can find greater strength, fellowship and success. I pray we learn and understand what they’ve done for us and be thankful. God bless.