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“For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well” (2 Tim. 1:5).
I remember well the name of Howard Hughes. Hughes’ life started with great potential, but his life ended in a pitiful condition.
This one-time wealthiest man in the world died as a spiritually bankrupt individual. He was born in 1906 in Houston, Texas. His mother, Allene, died in 1921. His father was a Harvard educated attorney and a great inventor. He invented the rotary drill bit with 166 cutting edges. He formed the Hughes Tool Company and later formed the Hughes Aircraft Corporation. Howard Jr. inherited 75 percent of the family business, making him an instant billionaire. In the 1960’s he sold much of the company and purchased a number of gambling casinos. Writings showed that he engaged in immorality of all kinds. He died in 1976, all alone, suffering from extreme fears and drug addiction.
There is another part of the story that I studied in graduate school. Hughes came from a very deeply religious family of gospel preachers. Howard’s great-great-grandfather was John Allen Gano. The dining hall of Freed-Hardeman University in Henderson, Tennessee, was named after this pioneer preacher. He was one of the restoration leaders and a friend of Barton Stone and Raccoon John Smith. Hughes’ great-grandfather was also a gospel preacher. His son, W.B. Gano, was also a lawyer and faithful gospel preacher. W.B. Gano’s daughter, Allene, married Hughes Sr., the father of Howard Hughes.
It took one generation to separate Hughes from the religious identity of his family with the church. The separation cost him his mental, physical, and spiritual health. I am reminded of how Timothy’s grandmother passed her faith to his mother, and his mother passed her faith to her son, Timothy.
Will you pass your faith on to your children and grandchildren? Learn the lesson of Timothy’s family and don’t repeat the lesson of the Hughes family!
Bob Harrison
Waurika Church of Christ
Waurika, OK