The Unknown Man

I recently visited Lyme Hall which featured in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. That was not the reason I was there. I was there to take in the history and imagine a life gone by. When I walk around such places, I marvel at the vast array of collected items and wonder at the stories behind them. I am also fascinated by the almost obsession that families who have owned such places have with their “name” and its longevity. The longing not to be forgotten seems consistent across most such estate owners but their attempts vary from place to place. Many seem to like to invest in grand buildings and vast collections as a claim to be deserving to be remembered, others prefer the role of generous benefactor, giving money or land to deserving causes and inevitably having something named after them. It should be noted that I am being very cynical in this reflection, and I am certain that there are those who do such things without this altera motive, but who simply collect for the joy of collecting, or who give because of the love of people.

As I walked through the rooms and down the long corridors, I stumbled across a painting of an intriguing looking gentleman, wearing fine clothes and clearly of some importance to have been painted and then displayed in this hall. As I looked the painting up in the guide, I was surprised to find that it was simply entitled “unknown man”. Nothing was known about either the painting or the man whose presence graced it. I wondered how he would feel about being “unknown man”. Having people gaze upon his face yet have no idea who he was. Then again, I think I know more about him than I personally know about some people whose names I use semi-often. I know nothing of Newman, whom the university that owns the football fields I play at every week are named after. Nor do I know anything about Morton Stanley, whose name I often see as I drive past signs to a park that shares their name. Yet this person in this picture, whose name I don’t even know seems to share an intimate moment with me as I stare at him, and he stares back.

I wondered about how I would feel to be “unknown man”. To be forgotten by history. What might my legacy be? Jesus talks about investing the things we have, for a time after we’ve left this earth, and so maybe these wealthy estate owners of the past weren’t entirely barking up the wrong tree. But his point wasn’t that we were only here for a short time but the earth was immortal and so we should do what we can to make our names remembered for as long as possible. If anything, it was quite the opposite; the earth and our time on it is short, but God and people are eternal. So, we should invest that which doesn’t last in that which lasts forever. Spend our time and our money here caring for each other, living for Jesus, sharing God’s love and coming to know Him more. Even just a five-minute conversation or a single act of kindness can change someone’s life for ever.  So, I think I will be quite happy to be forgotten, to become the unknown man, if I know I’ve spent my life building God’s kingdom and not my own reputation.