"Let us open the gates of the Lord. Let us remember,
none of us lives only unto himself." (Chaplain's words)
I happened across a news story the other day that both saddened me and, at the same time, gladdened me. I know that sounds a little confusing but, I'm going to relate it to you in a moment and you can decide how it affects you. I'd say further, that it falls into the "inspirational" category of stories.
The words shown above were said by a Chaplain at a funeral service a few days ago in the state of Florida. After reading what he said and the accompanying article I felt that there just might be a lesson for us to look at based on them. I think that we can perhaps see a lesson on the "callousness of others" and at the same time, see a lesson on the "care of others." But first, let me tell you the little story, the news article that brought about the Chaplain's statement.
On the afternoon of Dec. 16th, 2009, a couple of teenagers, a boy of 19 and his girlfriend, 18, led a funeral procession into the Florida National Cemetery. In this procession, besides the boy and girl, were two local Police Officers, 3 officials from the Dept. of Veteran's Affairs and the Chaplain. Waiting at the grave site was two rows of National Guard Soldiers. I should also mention that the 19 year old boy was also dressed in his National Guard uniform for the service.
It is in the story leading up to this funeral service that we see the two aforementioned sides of our lesson. Back in the latter part of November, 2009, the boy and his girlfriend were told about a large pile of trash nearby and that there had been some fishing gear found in it. They went there hoping to find out if there were anymore "treasures" in the pile. What they found in the trash pile is what eventually brought them to the National Cemetery and the service there.
While looking through the trash pile they saw a worn-looking green folder and upon opening it, found that it contained some retirement papers from the U.S. Army for a man named Delbert E. Hahn. It also contained a Citation for a Purple Heart, awarded to Hahn in 1945 and a Certificate for a Bronze Star medal awarded in June of 1944 at Normandy, France.
The teenagers wondered why someone would throw something like this away. They also wondered who Delbert E. Hahn was and, upon returning home, they conducted a computer search and found nothing. The next day they returned to the trash pile and searched a little more thoroughly. This is when they found a small metal box with an urn containing human ashes. The name Delbert E. Hahn was written on the bottom of the urn.
Upon finding this urn of ashes, the boy made a statement that speaks to the "callousness" part of our lesson. He said, "This shouldn't be here. No one should be thrown away like that." I have trouble picturing the heartless and unfeeling attitude that would have to be present in a person to allow them to just dispose of another person's remains, along with the documentation record of their life. I suppose that the only way we can understand this attitude is to recall how Paul described "unrighteous" individuals in Rom. 1:31: "without understanding - without natural affection and unmerciful." In considering those words, I would think that all Christians should have the same "picturing" problem as I do.
But, the trash pile search did not end with the finding of Delbert's urn, a little more searching turned up two more urns of ashes. The young couple took the three urns and the documents to the local police station and turned them in. A Corporal there, also a military veteran, upon hearing the story and seeing the evidence, said, "I had 3 uncles in WW2. That was the greatest generation. If it wasn't for those men, we would have nothing. And someone just dumped him there? He deserves a better ending."
Further investigation involved contacting the Dept. of Veteran's Affairs and the following information was obtained: Delbert E. Hahn was, in fact, a highly decorated hero having been awarded 5 (yes "five") Bronze Stars and 2 Purple Hearts. He had died in 1963. The second urn of ashes was determined to be those of his wife, Barbara Hahn, who passed away in 2003. The third urn was believed to be the ashes of Mrs. Hahn's mother, but not able to be proven.
Well, how did they come to be "thrown away" in a pile of trash? The news article went on to say that after Mrs. Hahn's mother died, a couple came to live with her and took care of her in her final years. Upon her death, they inherited her mobile home. They did not make the payments and it was subsequently foreclosed on. The bank simply hired a maintenance company to clear it out and in doing so, just threw everything out into a lot next to the house. Thus the trash pile.
As stated at the beginning, I was moved in two different directions by this article. On the one hand, at the callous and insensitive attitude of those who seemed to be "without natural affection" and just "threw away" Delbert and Barbara Hahn. But then, I was moved by the compassion and care shown by the young couple who exhibited "tender mercies" towards someone they did not know, had never met. I don't know anything personal about this young couple, but I do know this - they exemplified one of the traits of Christianity outlined by Jesus when He said, "Blessed are the merciful..." (Matt. 5:7)
Let's take one last look at the words of the Chaplain at the funeral service for Delbert and Barbara Hahn and "remember, no one lives only unto himself." That statement is a direct reference to Romans 14:7 where it reads: "For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself." As we live in this world, everyone of us effects others. Don't you think it behooves us to effect others in the way that our two teenagers did in that story, rather than effecting people the way the callous and unmerciful ones did? For me, I'll choose the positive effect every time.
One last lesson thought before we close, relative to the comment made by the 19 year old boy. If we ever get to the place in our lives where we cease to care about others. Where we, figuratively speaking, "throw another soul away." Long before that point we will have ceased to be a Christian. And, if we were to remain in that condition, God will "throw" us into the trash pile called Hell!
Ron Covey
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