While listening to the eulogy by a brother at the funeral of our late Sister Snobelen Senior, I suddenly realized that for a few moments we were no longer a part of the present but of the past and the future.
Our Sister who was baptized at the same time as my mother at the Temperance Hall at Birmingham, England in 1912 left her country the following year for Canada. The world she left behind was a small picturesque village by the name of Napton on the Hill nestled in the middle of England. Her world was woven in attending the school on the brow of the hill where her brother John’s name can still be seen on the plaque remembering those who died in the first world war. It was a very special day when the first new fangled motor car came through their village. The whole school was given a day’s holiday to watch this strange invention of man chug along. When not playing on the village green she would be seen running past the church which stood high on the hill, wending her way to the windmill which ground the wheat for all the farmers scattered in the valley below. It is said, that her name can still be seen roughly carved in the limestone of the old building. The old church would bear many memories for her, for it’s there her dear father who was killed in a road accident rests waiting for that great day when the ancient graves will be stirred and the dead in Christ will come forth. His voice was known to all the villagers as one who held the truth. The vicar who lived opposite to them gave testimony to this when he admitted, “Its true what you preach about the Bible, but it’s my living so I must continue to preach heaven going etc.”
The thatched cottage with the bakery by its side was home to her but now it stands silent, its rooms empty waiting for the Historical Heritage Society to decide whether they should restore it to its original condition so that other generations can be a part of an age that was. With all their efforts they will not be able to recapture the atmosphere of the aroma of the new bread taken from the ovens, or the sweet sound of the old organ played by her father while he sang with his strong voice his favorite hymn.
“Almighty Maker of my frame, short is the measure of my days, Give me to know how frail I am, And spend the remnant to Thy praise.” At his funeral they carried out his unspoken wish. The organ was carried to the graveside and the hills and valleys joined in praise with those who stood with the Hope of the resurrection in their hearts.
The small ecclesia was a welcome gathering place for those who had a clear vision of the future. Many walked miles to attend the services, to drink deep of the water of life and so be refreshed. Just outside the villagers congregated discussing those things of the present, while waiting their turn to fill their pails from the hand pump for drinking and family chores. It’s in that hall this young lady stood amongst giants of faith. Men like Brother Todd, Brother Walker and others, pillars of the brotherhood.
This is the world she left behind as a young lady to come to a new world, a new life but still holding on to the heritage given to her by her parents. She never forgot this or the world she once belonged to and we cannot blame her for it. It had given her the Truth, a fellowship and friendship with her family and relations that she may have never captured again. How often she tried to escape to that world in her conversation and the listener would hear in detail places and events that belonged to that brief world. From the past she would try to avoid the present and jump to the future, when the kingdom would be restored to Israel. “Salvation is of the Jews,” said Jesus. While many of us young brethren forgot this in our prayers, in the selecting of hymns, or in our talks from the platform she never did and how often she reminded us that we were called to be witnesses of this Hope.
She now rests waiting for the day of resurrection while we for a short span belong to the congregation of the living. Today is ours to live but what of the past? Have we built solidly on the foundation lain by others so that another generation will find it easier and thrilling to climb to a high plateau and have a clear view of the kingdom ? If not, then let us take heed to the Apostle Paul’s warning, to redeem the time we have misspent.
For a short time many of us have been severed from close family relationships, but the Truth can provide all things. Did not Christ say to his disciples, “Behold thy mother and thy brother.” When a friend in Christ can be closer than a brother in the flesh. When the company of one another as a family of Christ, if it is there can stimulate our thoughts and lives to be centered on the past and the future. What has been done for us by the Almighty working through his Son and others that we shall be a part of the future.
If our life in Christ and the ecclesial environment does not provide this then those who attend another funeral service may listen to the eulogy and be so much a part of this present world forgetting the past and belonging to the future for such a very short time.
Then we may ask, What will become of that Man?
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One