Last night…actually it was very early this morning, I was
handed a mostly melted plastic cup by a firefighter. Its contents were recovered from a bedroom in
a house that was destroyed by fire. “Go
find the owner of these”, he told me.
I knew the residents, a family of 16 on vacation here in
Nags Head, had kindly been given refuge from the rain on the ground floor in a vacation rental across the
street. They had no place else to
go. Their vehicles were blocked in the
driveway by great big fire trucks. One
SUV was parked under the house, and who knew if it would survive the inferno
above. All their clothes, food, boogie
boards…whatever they brought for their week on the beach was lost.
Except the contents of this melted cup that I held in my
hand.
As the department chaplain I was there to do whatever I
could to help whoever needed it. In my
turnout gear (I was called “chief” a few times during the incident, I guess
because I wear a white helmet) and through the rain I walked across the street
and into the game room with a pool table, furniture and big TV. All sixteen were huddled there. Grandparents. Siblings. Kids.
“Do you have any blankets?”, I was asked by one shivering
young lady. Most were barefooted,
wearing whatever they were wearing to bed a couple hours before.
“No. But I have some rings.
Whose are they?” And I poured the
four gold rings, one with a sizable diamond, onto a cocktail table. From the crowd around the TV a young woman
jumped up. “They’re mine!” Included in the four rings were her wedding
and engagement rings, something no woman wants to ever lose.
She came up and looked at her soot covered jewelry on the
table and the tears began to flow. Then,
with such a look of gratitude, she hugged me and planted a big kiss on my
cheek! What she thought was likely
forever lost, items precious to her because of the love they symbolized had
somehow been returned.
Picking up the melted cup and looking closely at it I saw a
name that had been written on it with a Sharpie, although it had shrunk with
the plastic. “Who’s Jeff?”, I
asked. And Jeff raised his hand. “Here’s your cup!” Everyone laughed. Laughs were good at that time for that family.
Sometimes life can’t seem to get much worse. These folks were on a vacation they had
likely planned and saved for since last summer.
They drove all the way from somewhere in New York to be together in an
oceanfront home. My guess is they were
having a great time until they were awakened at 3AM by a neighbor pounding on
their door. I’m told they last one out
got out just in time as the flames rapidly expanded through the dwelling.
Suddenly, in a moment we can lose what is most precious to
us. The blessing was that no one was
injured. No one lost their life. They would have to find a new place to
stay. They would have to buy clothes to
last them through the rest of the week.
A week’s worth of groceries for 16 people gone.
But the salvaged rings brought a night of horror a realization
that all was not lost. They were able to
smile and laugh and rejoice with their owner.
I hope she’s been able to clean them up today and put them
back on her fingers. But now they are
more than reminders of a proposal and vows.
They’re also a reminder of how precious life is, and how quickly
everything we possess materially can be lost.
The Bible tells us that life is brief. Like a fog, it’s here, then it’s gone. There are no guarantees of tomorrow for any
of us. But God has provided something
more precious than silver, gold or precious stones to give us hope. And that gift is the offer of eternal life in
His Son Jesus Christ.
I’ve seen so many in my lifetime receive that gift and have
what was lost found. There is no greater
joy than that moment in a person’s life.
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