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A "GRAVE" SITUATION In the summer of 2007 I wandered through the very old Mountain Grove Cemetery in Bridgeport, CT. I soon found myself at the foot of the grave of Fanny J. Crosby, who wrote over 3,000 Christian hymns and poems. In my mind, I could hear the words, "Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine! O what a foretaste of glory divine! Heir of salvation, purchase of God, Born of his Spirit, washed in His blood." But, the longer I stood there, the more disturbed I became over the small, insignificant, one-foot-tall stone marking the grave of one of God’s choice servants – it just wasn’t right! Some Christians have placed another small marker there in honor of her service to our Lord; but, in earthly terms, her songs and these two small markers are the only earthly monuments to her labors for Christ. Later, I found Fanny, herself, had actually requested the small grave marker. After relishing the moment, I wandered about 20 yards to a massive, 30-foot-tall monument and found it bore the name, Phineas T. Barnum. I stood in awe that this circus owner was memorialized in such an awesome fashion. As I tried to think of anything memorable he had ever said, the only thing that came to mind was, "A sucker is born every minute!" While some historians doubt Barnum is the source of the quote, it has long been attributed to him, and most people think it is his. Another very large monument close by was that of Tom Thumb, a midget showman for years in the Barnum circus. The greatest contribution of both men was worldly amusement, and their earthly monuments were grand. What a contrast of lives, lifestyles, and earthly memorials! I couldn’t help thinking about what many of you have given up to serve the Lord, what you could have selfishly done with your lives, what you could have accomplished in the world, and what a grave marker you might have one day had.
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