Respect for Fleeting Treasures–Rest in Peace, Queen Elizabeth II
Rest in peace, Queen Elizabeth.
I was at play practice yesterday morning when a news story about the queen popped up on my phone. It told that Queen Elizabeth’s family was gathering at Balmoral Castle where medical personnel were observing her. I quickly texted Ray to tell him the news.
When play practice was over, I joined Ray at company headquarters. He told me the sad news that she had passed away. We looked at each other with sadness and hugged in sympathy. We soon contacted our children to let them know. With Ray’s mother being from Bristol, England, we have had an especially strong love and respect for this beautiful woman who loved Jesus and who we believe to be a world treasure.
I had already written the following message for today’s blog post. It seems an especially appropriate one as so many around the world grieve the loss of Queen Elizabeth.
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
I see a powerful lesson in this portrait created in 1852. Its title is Great-Grand-Father’s Tale of the Revolution—A Portrait of Reverend Zachariah Greene.
Wealthy New York businessman Jacob Thuthill Vanderhoof commissioned William Sidney Mount to paint a portrait of his children—Mary Elizabeth, Henry Thompson, and Harriet Louise Vanderhoof—with their maternal great-grandfather Zachariah Greene. Great-Grandfather Greene was 92 years old when the painting was commissioned in 1852. He had served as the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Setauket, Long Island, New York, since 1797 and would continue to do so until his death six years after Mount painted this portrait. Three generations of the artist’s family had been part of Greene’s congregation, and Greene had performed the ceremony when the artist’s parents were married.
Two years after he painted the portrait, the artist wrote down some notes. He wrote that Greene had five fingers plus a thumb on each hand and six toes on each foot. Look carefully at the portrait and you can easily see the six fingers on Green’s hand which is holding his cane. Mount also wrote that Greene was a soldier in the American Revolution and that he had been a close friend of General George Washington. Mount wrote that Greene’s memory was still good at age 94.
Zachariah Greene enjoyed talking about his experiences in the American Revolution. He told his tales with great patriotism. Mount decided to portray Greene’s storytelling in the portrait. The family patriarch is pointing to a plaster portrait of George Washington.
The lesson that drew me to the painting is the attention of all of the grandchildren and the rapt attention of the two oldest. Young Henry Thompson is even taking notes on what his great-grandfather is saying. I love the idea that businessman Vanderhoof had such respect for his wife’s grandfather that he commissioned such a portrait.
The elderly are a priceless treasure. They are a fleeting treasure. Be sure that you treasure them and that you teach your children to treasure them, too. Their words and their stories are fleeting. Don’t miss the wisdom they have to share. Respect it. Cherish it. Respect them. Cherish them.
Ray and I have been enjoying a wonderful fitness program through our family physician’s office. It has been an excellent combination of both exercises and lectures that teach how exercise fits into our health as human beings. During one class, we learned about the relationship between exercise and mental health and cognition. Our trainer taught us that research shows that people who are lonely are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s. On the one hand, that is very sad. On the other hand, it is encouraging. Is it possible that we can actually help our elderly loved ones retain their memory simply by cherishing them and spending time with them?
When teaching Timothy how to relate to people in the church, Paul told him to treat them like family:
Do not sharply rebuke an older man,
but rather appeal to him as a father,
to the younger men as brothers,
the older women as mothers,
and the younger women as sisters, in all purity. . . .
But if anyone does not provide for his own,
and especially for those of his household,
he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
1 Timothy 5:1-2, 8
Sometimes it’s hard to remember that the Golden Rule applies to our families, too. As Jesus said:
Treat others the same way
you want them to treat you.
Luke 6:31
I will plan to tell you more about this year’s Homeschool Dramatic Society play on Monday. Performances are next Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in Cookeville, Tennessee. Meanwhile, you can learn more about in person attendance and livestreaming here.