Rummaging through old black and white photos during a family gathering, I came across a picture of a tall, lanky, broad-shouldered young man, lean and bronzed by the sun. I was particularly struck by the familiar eyes of the youthful farmer looking back at me.
The man in the photo stood purposefully with a strong posture and muscular arms. He wore denim coveralls, brushed white by years of farm work. A cigarette dangled from his parted lips. He held a broad-billed straw hat in one hand and a bandana in the other—I easily imagined he’d just wiped dust and sweat from his brow into the towel-sized bandana, so common in those days.
Suddenly I recognized it was a photo of Ellis, Marilyn’s paternal grandfather—who at that very moment was sitting just across the room, looking every bit of his ninety years.
Then I noticed something that took my breath. Examining the faded photo more closely, I could see that he was standing in the same corn field in which Marilyn and I later built our home.
Ellis stood strong and confident, an ancient guard appointed to protect the property that would one day be our home place. It was as though I was looking back into the future. I could almost hear the dried corn stalks crackling in the gentle breeze behind the youthful and capable Ellis. This vision changed my perspective, and I had a new appreciation for the old man resting across the room.
He was younger in the photo than I was. He exuded confidence and a rugged handsomeness. I was looking at a young man I had never been privileged to know. That day at our family gathering, I was able to look at the photo and then look up at him in the last days of his life, cane by his side, drawn and wrinkled by age, engulfed in his overstuffed chair.
Have you ever wondered what we will look like when we get to heaven? I hope my resurrection body will restore me to my best days! If I had to venture a guess, I’d say we’ll be like Jesus’ in that we will be in our prime. Jesus was crucified and then resurrected by His Heavenly Father at the age of 33… which in my opinion is the optimum age. I fully expect to see and recognize my godly mother and father—not as the graying, stooped people who passed from here, but as youthful and completely vital people.
The photo stirred my spirit and enabled me to look at the old Ellis and appreciate that only now was he old Ellis—no longer spry. Here sat the same man today, veiled in age but more accurately portrayed by the photograph in my hand. The same able-bodied man who worked the field upon which my home would one day rest, now rests in a chair only a few feet away. I was standing on his shoulders to reach the fruit my family and I were now enjoying.
Truth be told, we all rely heavily on those who have gone before us. God knows how our lives will unfold before we are ever born. He has carefully orchestrated the circumstances in our lives and continues to do so. That’s why He’s God.
Good people have gone before you… and a good God has led them. Listen carefully to God’s words found in the Bible, words from which millions have found great hope—
God says, “I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out–plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.” Jeremiah 29:11
Read Ron’s column, Simple Faith, each Saturday on the Faith Page (page 3) of the Lancaster Eagle Gazette, or visit www.lancastereaglegazette.com.