Aussie SoilIn his early years Boreham expressed his abhorrence at the thought of dying in Australia and being buried away from British soil. However his gradual love affair with this great brown continent led him to rescind his earlier statement. Perhaps in some way his prayers were granted when his body was finally laid to rest nearby, in the Kew cemetery - in Australian soil under an old English oak!
Under The Old Oak Tree
The old oak, though much taller than in the 1950's, still shelters the grave in a graceful manner. Frank and Stella used to picnic at this family grave from the time their daughter Wroxie died, in 1953. Frank loved the way that the possums left their marks all around. Today, if you visit, there's still ample evidence to suggest that possums persist in playing in the oak and dancing on Boreham's grave.
An abundance of acorns adorn this grave - seeds that are pregnant with life and potential. Frank Boreham understood that those who live effective lives are those who like oaks have taken years to develop into fruitfulness.
F.W. Boreham once remarked how he rarely returned home from a Sunday of worship services to report to his wife that someone had become a Christian in response to his preaching that day.
However, he was for ever amazed at the many times people said to him, "That sermon that you preached ten years ago was the means by which God turned my life around!"
Invisible Mystery
This is something of the mystery of the ministry? We say or do something that at the time seems small and ordinary yet through an invisible and often a lengthy process of maturing there emerges something that is profound and transforming. This conviction offers hope to all of us when we realize the significant part, often the hidden part that we play in the purposes of God. It’s like acorns becoming oak trees.
Geoff Pound
Image: The Boreham family grave in the Boroondara Cemetery, Kew, Melbourne.
