Things

Recently Mike discovered online that a famous gun had sold to a collector - a gun that we had had the opportunity to see on a trip to the northeast about fifteen years ago to take care of a business matter. That was a very interesting trip in many ways. We stayed in the home of the man (and his wife) with whom Mike was dealing, and though we greatly appreciated their kindness and hospitality to us, it was very apparent that the purpose of their lives was to accumulate nice things. Their house, though small, was full of vases, and clocks, and knick-knacks, and other things about which they were continually saying "Oh, and let me show you this." Then we went through the storage shed in the back yard that was also full of items of various kinds. And then, they took us to the huge garage that they had rented nearby - also full of "stuff." That's when they showed us the historical gun.

I do enjoy seeing nice things, especially since knowing Mike's dad, who was a collector and a good judge of quality. (And I really, really wish I had taken advantage of his expertise when he was still alive - such a wealth of information in many areas went with him.) However, collecting "stuff" is not, nor will it ever be, our main focus. I remember going into those people's rented garage in a northeast town, to look at yet more things and things, and I thought of the Bible verse about the man who kept building barns to store his grain. Those people have barns full of "grain."