One treasure I took away was from my Aunt Allene.  She and her husband, my uncle Lowell, lived in a trailer next to my grandparents.  My uncle was a traveling salesman and although he lived in a trailer house, he always drove a Cadillac.  Picture this old country farm with an old farm house landscaped with all sorts of neat flowers and such, groomed by the hands of a real farmer.  Picture out behind the house all kinds of barns and storage buildings, livestock pens, and even an outdoor toilet.  Then picture this trailer house about 100 feet away from the farm house, front door to front door, and this shiny, new Cadillac parked between them and you’ll get the picture.  Allene and Lowell never had any children and we were somewhat surrogate children to them, although we had to play second fiddle, first to a black, hairless dog named Spooky and then to a curly haired dog named Ju-Ju (not sure if she had a spelling).  Both dogs were very unlikeable to say the least, but they probably didn't think us likeable either!

Allene was quite an expressive.  She had colorful clothes and big hair.  She definitely fit right in that shotgun seat of the Cadillac drinking her “little Cokes” and smoking her cigarettes.  She was country-cool indeed.  You would have thought she was a millionaire.  She went through this phase of painting everything, including her lamp shades.  Seems she loved some kind of teal blue as about everything got painted that color.  I suppose she’d had to buy a whole gallon and wanted to make sure she used it all.  Yeah, I know.  I suppose we had to run sometimes not to get painted ourselves.  Lowell could play any instrument he wanted “by ear”, and his claim to fame was knowing Lawrence Welk and actually playing the organ on the radio show of Lawrence Welk’s brother!  We actually knew someone famous.  (Well, I said we were country.)  

My aunt Allene used to make us perform in little talent shows.  One time she and my grandmother found out Jack was performing a humorous reading in speech contests and insisted he perform it for him.  Joy and I were getting a real kick out of it and went back into the kitchen so we could laugh at him and all.  Well, as Jack performed his humorous speech both our grandmother and our Aunt Allene cried through it!  Jack was quite the funny one, I suppose.  Actually, they were so proud of us and loved to watch us do stuff.  And, after performing Jack got a Snickers Bar and Joy and I got a snub from Aunt Allene for laughing!

One of the best lessons I ever learned from all those sweet people was taught to me by my Aunt Allene when she was just reminiscing and such.  She was talking about living during the depression and how little they’d had.  Being the colorful person she was she was commenting on how gray and drab things were and how much she loved color.  She told us that whenever they would get some little pretty and colorful knick-knack or what-not, she’d sit and stare at it for hours at a time.  I really didn’t think anything about it at the time but only felt sorry for her, as compared to her upbringing we were filthy rich (and we were actually quite poor).

Some years later after I became a Christian, at some point, I was reminded of that little story when I read Phil. 4:8, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”  I got it because my aunt had taught me that when I was a boy—if you have any little pretty things around, stare at them.

It’s really such a simple but deeply profound lesson.  And, it is a much better cure, or at least treatment, for most of life’s struggles.  No matter what happens, find something pretty and stare at it for hours on end.  And, the result will be that you’re applying the secret of contentment.  

Paul goes on to say, Phil. 4:12-13, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”  Yeah, that famous statement about doing everything through Christ is not even talking about doing mighty feats.  It’s simply talking about being able to be content in any circumstance, which is one of the greatest feats of all really.

And, my dear sweet Aunt Allene taught me that with a simple story from her life during the Great Depression.  With all the bombardment of the negative, sky-is-falling messages we endure, we’d all be well-advised to listen carefully to that simple lesson from someone who lived through the Great Depression.  Find something really pretty to you and “stare at it” for hours on end.