Where is your treasure?
“For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.” Luke 12:34
A few weeks ago a cousin of mine posted on Facebook an old picture of my grandmother she had found. That prompted several posts from other cousins, myself included, who all had such good memories of our Granny Flanagan, my dad’s mother. I had not thought of her in a long time, but that little photo brought back a flood of memories—how much fun it was to stay at her house, sleeping on the fold out sofa, playing in the water in a galvanized tub—especially nice in the middle of a summer in New Orleans with no air conditioning—about the wonderful smells that came from her kitchen, but mostly how good she made us all feel. It felt so good to be with her. She had a devout faith and trusted in God completely. She was able to show love to all of us no matter what else was happening in her life. Material things meant little to her. Her faith in God and her family were the only things that mattered and it showed in everything she did.
Granny and Grandpa didn’t have much in the way of material things. Grandpa was a carpenter and Granny took care of the kids and the house. She always wore simple cotton dresses, with a couple of nicer ones for Sunday, and except for a little powder and some lipstick occasionally, didn’t wear makeup, wore her long gray hair in a bun always.
It made me think about how I can stand in front of my closet full of clothes and think I have nothing to wear. I happen to love clothes, shopping, stuff in general. But what will my grandchildren remember about me? What will people remember about me? Will it be my clothes, my hair, my house, the car I drive? I really hope not. I hope that they remember that I made they feel good, that I showed them the love of God, maybe by a smile, a hug, sometimes just taking the time to listen. That’s what Granny did for us. She loved us unconditionally no matter what. We were her treasures.
What an example of living out the Gospel. “For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.” Luke 12:34.
Where is your ‘treasure’?
We should all think about how others see us not just now but after we are long gone and just a distant memory. Maybe if we all stopped to think about this, it might just change us. Unless, of course, we are like your grandmother, who seems to have figured out how she wanted to be remembered – simple, loving and living out life with all things pointing to the Lord.