“If we confess our sins, he is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” - 1
John 1:9
Susie and I visited the Winchester Mystery house in San
Jose, California on Monday. It is rather
infamous, even having a movie made about it last year, albeit a film that got
terrible reviews.
The ‘house’ is actually a sprawling mansion that was
inhabited by Sarah Winchester, the widow of William Winchester,
of Winchester firearms fame. After
William’s death in 1881, Sarah took her massive inheritance and moved from Connecticut
to California. She did so after going to a medium in Boston who told her that she
was being haunted by the ‘spirits’ of those who had been killed by Winchester
rifles.
She bought a farm house in San Jose, and, following the
medium’s instructions, started adding on to the house until it eventually contained
161 rooms, including 40 bedrooms, 2 ballrooms, 47 fireplaces, over
10,000 panes of glass, and 17 chimneys.
Many of the rooms have 13 adornments of various sorts, as she was told
that 13 was her lucky number. There are
doors and staircases that lead to nothing, odd shaped rooms with various ceiling heights as all these additions were done without planning or blueprints.
You see the medium had told her that as long as she continually had construction going on at the home, she would never die. She was also advised that the 24 hour a day hammering and sawing noises would scare the spirits along with the odd doors and stairwells confusing them. Freighted by the prospect of spirits aiming for retribution, the continuous construction carried on until September 5, 1922, the day it all went silent.
For on that day Sarah Winchester died of heart failure at age 83. And so it seems that eternal life was not achieved.
You see the medium had told her that as long as she continually had construction going on at the home, she would never die. She was also advised that the 24 hour a day hammering and sawing noises would scare the spirits along with the odd doors and stairwells confusing them. Freighted by the prospect of spirits aiming for retribution, the continuous construction carried on until September 5, 1922, the day it all went silent.
For on that day Sarah Winchester died of heart failure at age 83. And so it seems that eternal life was not achieved.
The tour of the mansion was both captivating and ultimately deeply unsettling. While it was a bright sunny day as shown in
my photograph above, I left the house experiencing darkness. A woman had spent a good part of her life building
out fear. Peace was fleeting for her. All based on a meeting with a seer, which
in and of itself, is another sad story for another time (read 1 Chronicles 10:13,14). Darkness, there was no light in her life.
I suppose all of us have things in our lives and past that
haunt us. Haunts that we fear we
cannot be forgiven from. Haunts sometimes deserved, sometimes not so much. Certainly,
there is not a one of us that deserve forgiveness, including the long-gone Sarah
Winchester. But one need not fear the spirits of our transgressions. We have the
ultimate forgiveness in Christ Jesus. One that will result in eternal life.
As I said, when the tour ended, I felt a profound
sadness. For here was the saga of a person who could not or would not approach the source of
real forgiveness. I’m not God, mine is not to ultimately judge, but I have a feeling that with her death, peace
was still not achieved.
But true peace is available. It is a truth. The gospel writer John shares this truth, and does so in a most succinct manner. "If we confess our sins," he writes, "he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
I’m saddened that Mrs. Winchester could not find that peace. But I’m hopeful that anyone reading this can. It’s found in Jesus. Turn it over to Him. He is faithful. He is just. He will forgive. He will cleanse.
But true peace is available. It is a truth. The gospel writer John shares this truth, and does so in a most succinct manner. "If we confess our sins," he writes, "he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
I’m saddened that Mrs. Winchester could not find that peace. But I’m hopeful that anyone reading this can. It’s found in Jesus. Turn it over to Him. He is faithful. He is just. He will forgive. He will cleanse.
No hammers and saws needed. It is, ultimately, not so much a mystery.
