Grave Lessons ii: Name & Occupation

The only details we have of James Culshaw, sometime occupant of a grave in the grounds of Rufford Church, Lancashire, is his occupation: wheelwright. He was skilled tradesman, one upon whose services the gentry of Rufford Old Hall would doubtless have depended. His estate was at least large enough to provide him with a stone memorial, at a time when many others went unremembered. The peculiar design of the top of the stone and the style of the lettering I would date as 1780-1810, which some keen genealogist with spare time might confirm. Still, it is curious that his occupation should be the one defining detail preserved on his stone. Not his relationships, not his views, not his appearance, just his job. A man skilled at his work will, of course, stand before kings. But what of the Great King before whom all must stand, including Master Culshaw? We allow our jobs to define us, or worse things. Yet those who come to Christ in faith are adopted as sons and daughters of God, ransomed, redeemed, forgiven and ennobled. He who has the Son has life; he who has not the Son has nothing at all.