It was not new when he acquired it, the antique oak "double scroll" roll top desk. My mother bought it from an estate as a gift one year and it got moved into their home where soon after, my dad nestled into it like a mouse coming home for the winter. You see it had all kinds of nooks and crannies which were perfect for holding postage stamps (loose and random), paid insurance policies, old bank deposits, simply a massive variety of documents, because of all the wonderful filing places. Daddy enjoyed this desk up until the final days of his life. The desk served a good purpose. It was built well when it was made and it was meant to last through several generations of users.
But the desk would not last forever...
My mother has since passed this wonderful heirloom of a desk on to my family. It came home to my husband's office this Christmas via U Haul. My husband found that time and travel had played their tole on this fine specimen of craftmanship. In order to set it up in working order, he had to do quite a bit more than to glue little pieces of wood back together. He had to reset new dowels where old ones had become worn and crumbled. The desk needed new screws, new oil, new attention.
Because, the desk will not last forever...
Are not our bodies somewhat like that old desk? We are created with such bouncing, bendable, invincible bodies with bones that hold incredible amounts of pressure and tension. We start out all glossy and finished with such an admirable glow to our skin, luster in our hair and twinkling in the eyes. Yet, over time, our hardware begins to weaken. Just like the patina on the old desk, our skin becomes spotted and dry with age. Just like the squeeky slide of the once sleek sliding scroll, our joints begin to slow us down. Our "drawers" don't roll like they used to, our "hinges" need new life, new screws, new oil.
Because, like the desk, our bodies will not last forever...
But unlike the old desk, our bodies have a indestructable spirit, one that lasts forever. And we have the promise that once our bodies have fullfilled their earthly purpose, which is housing the spirit, we get a whole new recreated body that will carry us through all eternity!
I really cannot say this any better than the great exhorter himself, the Apostle Paul:
1 Corinthians 15:42-44 and 46-57
In the same way, our earthly bodies which die and decay are different from the bodies we shall have when we come back to life again, for they will never die. The bodies we have now embarrass us, for they become sick and die; but they will be full of glory when we come back to life again. Yes, they are weak, dying bodies now, but when we live again they will be full of strength. They are just human bodies at death, but when they come back to life they will be superhuman bodies. For just as there are natural, human bodies, there are also supernatural, spiritual bodies.
First, then, we have these human bodies, and later on God gives us spiritual, heavenly bodies. Adam was made from the dust of the earth, but Christ came from heaven above. Every human being has a body just like Adam’s, made of dust, but all who become Christ’s will have the same kind of body as his—a body from heaven. Just as each of us now has a body like Adam’s, so we shall some day have a body like Christ’s.
I tell you this, my brothers: an earthly body made of flesh and blood cannot get into God’s Kingdom. These perishable bodies of ours are not the right kind to live forever. But I am telling you this strange and wonderful secret: we shall not all die, but we shall all be given new bodies! It will all happen in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For there will be a trumpet blast from the sky, and all the Christians who have died will suddenly become alive, with new bodies that will never, never die; and then we who are still alive shall suddenly have new bodies too. For our earthly bodies, the ones we have now that can die, must be transformed into heavenly bodies that cannot perish but will live forever. When this happens, then at last this Scripture will come true—"Death is swallowed up in victory."
O death, where then your victory? Where then your sting? For sin—the sting that causes death—will all be gone; and the law, which reveals our sins, will no longer be our judge.
How we thank God for all of this! It is he who makes us victorious through Jesus Christ our Lord!
AMEN to what he said!
Here is the old desk in its new location.
You can see all the tiny little compartments
where daddy stored all his paper treasures.
And here are just a few of the many postage stamps that we found. They date back to a time when zip codes were just being introduced. My father would still use all of these stamps up until just last year.
As you can see, these have the denomination of
4 cents and commemorate man in space at the time of the Mercury Project.
And lastly, just for kicks, Here is a $2.00 book of
8 cent US Air Mail Stamps. Daddy, if you are reading this today, I know you have switched from Air Mail to Prayer Mail! See you soon in our new heavenly bodies, M
