One warm afternoon I visited an estate sale in my neighborhood. I began to root around the estate expecting to see outdated furniture, useless knickknacks and other decorative trinkets. You know—something an elderly person might leave behind. What I found were flat screen TVs, couches from Ethan Allen and many valuable possessions.
Inside the first bed chamber was a princess bed with elegant wooden posts. A spacious closet held pastel-colored tops and miniskirts. The second room belonged to a young boy, judging by the size of the bed, blue comforter and superhero t-shirts. I could not believe such sentimental things were for sale. I went into the master bedroom. Ornate furniture (the kind that takes many years to gather) filled this luxurious room. Sadly, whoever lived here had to leave quickly and sparsely. What happened here? What sort of fate met this young family?
An estate sale is different from a yard sale. Items in a yard sale are up for grabs because the owner no longer desires them. On the other hand, items in an estate sale are sold off because an owner—mostly due to morbid reasons—cannot keep them. I believe the heaviness I felt has been felt before:
“There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy on mankind: a man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to enjoy them, but a stranger enjoys them. This is vanity; it is a grievous evil.”— Ecclesiastes 6:1-2, the Bible (ESV)
Possessions. How little they count.
