As my one or two readers know I love geocaching and especially cemetery geocaches. SuperPizzaBoy and I were in far western Oklahoma yesterday on a road trip. We looked for a cache in a little country cemetery literally out in the middle of nowhere. Actually we drove past nowhere to get there. I absolutely love cemeteries, especially old ones. They give me a sense of peace. Like, I’m going to die and the world is going to go on without me, somehow. Strange I know, but still.
We didn’t find the cache, but I didn’t care too much. I found this tombstone. If you will click on picture you can read that it marks the grave of Annie A. Hitt who died in 1917, age 43. I don’t know a thing about her, (but I do know that Hitt is still a common name in that neck of the woods.) (Listen to me, you are going to have to click on the picture to see what I’m talking about, do it, now!!!)
Above her name, just barely recognizeable, is the enscription: “In my Father’s House are Many Mansions.”
Look just above that and you can just barely make out a big multi-turreted mansion. Boy, that’s strange, what you hear mostly is “rooms” not “mansions”. I checked the King James version and sure enough it says “mansions.”
I’m not too interested in the original Greek and blah, blah, blah about true meaning of this and that. All I know is I always liked the “rooms” version, but the “mansions” almost stopped my heart. I love it also! I love both of them and lay claim to both versions! So here is is my verse:
“In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” John 14:2 (KJV)
Like I said, I don’t know a thing about Annie A. Hitt, but she almost stopped my heart 92 years after her heart stopped. I don’t know if anybody from her family remembers her, but I’ll remember her for quite a while.
Check out That’s Baloney for perfect pairings by Baloney and her friends.
Wow. Thanks for sharing this Yogi! I like both versions too. My favorite part is the last, though. To think that a place is actually prepared and waiting for me gives me a lot of peace and something to look forward to.
I love visiting old cemeteries, too. The inscriptions are often thought provoking. You found a good one in Annie Hitt’s stone.
I am so glad you posted this! I was trying to remember which blogger I knew who did geocaching. I am going to do a post on it, with a shout out to your blog. I heard a radio show about it and love the idea.
Nice post. The dry brown grass tells me they have not had as much rain as we have. My mother had an old friend named Hitt. I wonder if she was from that area. Hitt is German I think.
@Baloney – you said in a few words what I didn’t achieve in a whole bunch.
@Janie – Thanks,
@Jenn Jilks – just don’t go overboard.
@TG – I think Hitt is German. There are still a lot of Hitts and other families of German ancestry there.
That’s quite a story and do hope she’s being remembered. Great post.
Mansions speaks to the generosity of that Kingdom. I so like.
I love cemeteries, too. They put all the ordinary stuff of life into perspective. Gotta have ’em.