by Alan P. Scaglione
I had the opportunity to inherit my grandparents’ dining room table from my Aunt Ciria who, at 79. is moving in with her daughter. This is the same table that my mother sat at with her four siblings and parents back in the 1940’s. I had to use some tools to take the table apart, and I pulled out my father’s toolbox he made for me when I went off to college. It was his tool box that he had filled with his spare tools and gave to me, just in case, he said, my car breaks down .
So I am using my Papa’s tools to take apart my Mama’s childhood dining table, and I suddenly get caught up in the moment. I look at my hands, with my father’s wrench, now covered in rust from handling the bolt I was taking out. Looking down, I realized--this rust was older than I am! Wow! This was one of those circle of life moments!
Kind of like how we are with God. It may take years to appreciate the heritage our parents passed on to us during all those Sunday School classes, Sunday morning services and family lunches with cousins. Until, one day, you realize you miss those times and wonder why this world is so messed up. Could it be that we don’t have any legacy to pass on to our kids for them to someday appreciate?
Have we replaced Sunday School, Church and family lunches with DS, Ipod and Wii? Is that the legacy we want passed onto the next generation? Are these the memories we want them to someday miss and cherish?
So, what was an old piece of furniture to someone else was my opportunity to sit with my family at the same table that my mother sat at with her family 70 years ago-now passed on to me!
The Word says in Proverbs 22:6 “train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it!”
Until next time,
I’m just sayin’!
Brother “A”
