JUN IOR K ING ’S BUSINESS edited by Martha S. Hooker
Another Western Adventure with Leonard Eilers
THE SUCES OF MARK GREYBER
He had a hankering for excitement and riches
I ’m sure glad you could all come again to our Round-Up. Now get yourselves comfortable while I get out my Bible and read the story about the rich fool. “ And he [that is, Jesus] spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my bams, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee; then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:16-21). This story warns us against some thing which is very common to
everyone and that’s what makes it so important. Jesus is telling us about the danger there is of being taken over by a craving for wealth, for riches. Of course, there is need for a certain amount of money in order to live. To want just so much and try to get it honestly is right. But to want more, much more than is necessary, and to have the idea that the more you have, the happier you’ll be, is wrong. This, I believe, is what Jesus is telling us in this story, which brings back to my mind a man whom I found crumpled along a trail in Arizona. He turned out to be Mark Greyber, one of the richest ranchers in the state. And one of the most unhappy. Let me tell you his story. Mark Greyber’s father was a New England pastor who had gone West to preach the gospel on the new frontier. But things didn’t go well for the Greybers. The pioneers were on the move and didn’t seem to have time for church. Money was mighty scarce for the preacher’s
family. Sometimes they didn’t have enough to eat or even enough to wear. Finally the father decided to re turn East but young Mark would have no part of it. He was sick and tired of being a poor preacher’s kid. And he didn’t like going to church. He had a hankering for excitement. And he wanted to get rich. Shortly after parting from his family he lit out for the gold mines of Colorado. One day an old pros pector got to talking to him, and after quite a long conversation sort of took a liking to the young man. He saw in him what he needed. A partner to help him mine his claim. And so he offered Mark the oppor tunity. Mark was quick to accept. Of course it was a gamble. All pros pecting was. But what the old man told him about his claim sounded real good. At different times it be came necessary to get jobs so as to earn a grubstake. This went on for many months. Mark was about to
The King's Business/May 1957
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