One's Craft

Death is a reminder of why we live. From the beginning, that is our birth, and through our days of innocence, we grow old, and sin takes hold of us. Then you begin to question your life, and then you say to yourself “When I die, am I going to Heaven or Hell?” I often place myself in my grandpa’s shoes, and I associate that question with him. The more I empathize his life, the more I realize the answer. You see not only was our grandpa a good man, he was also a hard working man. Under God’s eyes, his life was not in vain, nor was it worthless. His life left a legacy and passed it onto a beautiful family that modeled under his discipline that is God’s commandments. 

I see my grandpa’s life as a reflection with the Bible’s words in Matthew, ch. 25, verses 14 – 30, when Jesus illustrates a parable of 3 servants who took responsibility and was granted gold from their master. Two of the servants did a good deed, and use the gold in a dutiful way. Because of their actions with the gold, they were gifted twice the amount they had received. Under their master’s eyes, they had done a good thing and said to both of them, “well done good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness! (Matthew 25: 24)” However, if you guys recall, the third servant was a different story. He did not do any beneficial thing with the gold. In fact, he buried it and kept it there for those years, fearing to take a chance with it. Come time to present his outcome to his master, the servant had nothing to show for the gold, so his master boldly replied, “you wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed?” Following up with, “And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25: 26 – 30). This is the word of the lord. 

When I had to reflect upon my grandpa’s legacy, this verse from the Bible instinctively stuck with me. As we all know, David Visico was a hard working man. Throughout my whole life growing up with him, he was a man who didn’t say much. He was less of a speaker, but more of a man of action. His actions were most definitely his words. From what I recall, he had to fight to get here, bring his family, and start a freshly, new life here in the states. This was the gold given to him from God. However, unlike the third servant, he put use to our lives. Like many of us here in this city of Delano, the fields is one of the few options that begins an opportunity. My grandpa worked it for nearly 40 years, almost half his life. Though he was working hard, practically doing slave work, the result did not come in vain. What was harvested from this duty was a start for many of us, and for many of us, duty was a seed sown from the grace of God, spread onto us by the work from our beloved grandfather. Not only did he do good, the good in him spread, continuing our line of always doing better.

Since then, grandpa continued on. Eventually battling parkinson’s, and towards his untimely death due to COPD. Even through the worse days of his life, he continued to persevere, not wasting any inch of his last breath. I speak to you today on behalf of my grandpa’s legacy with the question, “is he going to Heaven or Hell?” Well, it’s pretty obvious, along with his strong belief in Jesus, that he’s no longer suffering in this world of sin. Rather, he’s up in Heaven, rewarded by our God. Continuing on in the same chapter of Matthew, ch. 25, one of my favorite teachings from Jesus, states, “For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them”
(Matthew 25:29). What he had was us, and evidently, he was given in abundance. God continued to provide and now he is in Heaven. Thus, remember our grandfather, David Visico, and act upon his gold. He worked to get us here, so do not be like that 3rd servant wasting his gold away. In God’s eyes, that life is as good as worthless.

Thank you Grandpa for inspiring us to do more. Thank you for rooting us with my walk in Jesus. Lastly, thank you for giving us this beautiful family, the gold I can never waste. God bless you.