A long time ago, during the age of the Fathers of the Church, there is a story about St. Augustine. The story goes that the people of Hippo, Northern Africa, were very excited about building a beautiful church, and decorating their cathedral so that it would become an impressive place of worship.
They donated silk and brocades vestments to the church. They put silver chains on the lamps, and covered the walls with expensive wood. They wanted all the vessels for the altar to be made of gold. They wanted to have a truly beautiful church to honor God. St. Augustine said that was very nice, but there was something that was more important.
"Do not adorn the church and ignore your afflicted brother who is the most precious temple of all."
St. Augustine said, "I do not want golden dishes on the altar. I want a Golden Heart."
This a story about values... material and spiritual values.
A wonderful old woman told me one time: "When you get old, you begin to realize what are the really important things in life. They are not the things you can buy. They are the love of people around you. They are more important than everything else in the world. But it is sad sometimes, that we have to wait until we get old to realize that Golden Hearts are more important than Golden Dishes.
