In the mid 90's Peggy & I went to the Florida Keys. Our visit was in the off season so it was a very relaxed and unhurried time. The weather was unusually cool for Key West so we spent a good bit of time inside.
One of the places I enjoyed was the Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Museum. Mel Fisher became famous for his discovery of the Spanish Galleon the Atocha.
I share this bit of nostalgia from our life for a purpose. Mel Fisher (cf. the paragraph below for a summary of his roots) was focused. He invested 20 years treasure hunting for the ship he finally did find. He began each and every day at sea by going to the crew at sun up with the words - "Today's The Day" meaning the day we will finally find what we are looking for. He suffered incredible set backs, the loss of a son and many other tragic events in his quest to find Spanish Gold.
Fisher was an Indiana-born former chicken farmer who eventually moved to California and opened the first diving shop in the state. He attended Purdue University and
was a member of The Delta Chi Fraternity. In 1953, he married Dolores
(Deo) Horton who became his business partner. She was one of the first
women to learn how to dive and set a women's record by staying
underwater for 50 hours. Mel and Deo had five children: sons Terry,
Dirk, Kim and Kane, and daughter Taffi. On July 13, 1975 Mel's oldest
son Dirk, his wife Angel, and diver Rick Gage died after their boat sank
due to bilge pump failure during their quest for treasure. Mel
struggled through decades of hard times treasure hunting in the Florida Keys with the motto Today's the Day.[3]
I had followed Fisher's quest on the History Channel for years (very few commercials and interesting). As I browsed through the museum I noticed Mel was sitting in his office. He invited me in. In the next hour I was privileged to get a first hand account from Mel Fisher of all the history I had watched unfold over the years on the History Channel. Mel was a chain smoker and died of lung cancer in December of 1998.
Application
Mel Fisher had focus. He endured tragedy in his pursuit of gold that perishes. Like the Prophet Amos, a Shepherd and Fruit Farmer, he had an unlikely set of credentials to pursue what he did, Treasure Hunting. He persisted.
As a Pastor we lead people on a quest for a city where the streets are pure gold. That city is eternal not temporal.
Hebrews 11:8-10 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.
Pastor, if Mel Fisher was relentless in his pursuit of gold that perishes, should we not be ever more so relentless in our quest to lead people to that city where Christ is The Light?
Today May Be The Day!!
