If you’re driving south of Mobile, you’ll drive right past the Thrift Shop. Located near the Alabama Gulf Coast, it’s in a nondescript concrete-block building. But inside its plain walls are incredible secondhand treasures. (Proceeds from which help feed the poor and clothe the needy.) But what no one knew was that one of the greatest treasures of all time was sitting on a dusty shelf in the back of the store between a Magic 8-ball and a Stretch Armstrong.
On May 11, 2012, the estate of Mr. Jacques de Molay was officially settled. His great niece and nephew had brought the last of his earthly possessions to the thrift shop in an old cardboard box. There was a waffle iron, an alarm clock, a cat clock whose eyes moved with its tail, a book of French poems and an old, weathered chalice.
Jacques had lived a long and fascinating life. Living near Paris, he fled his beloved France with only the clothes on his back (and a small suitcase.) The Germans had invaded his home country and while many of his former classmates had chosen to join the resistance, he had decided to run. As he sat in a pub in a bombed out section of London, he spun a globe to pick a place to be as far away from the war as possible. His finger landed on the sleepy Southern port city of Mobile, Alabama.
But even half a world away, Jacques had a hard time escaping the Nazis. As his steamer approached the mouth of Mobile Bay, it became a target for a German U Boat. Two of U-106’s G7 torpedoes ripped through the freighter and once again, he escaped with only the clothes on his back (and his small suitcase.) His lifeboat washed up (along with much of the ship’s debris) on what is now known as Orange Beach. As burning debris flickered on the horizon, Jacques struggled to convince the Baldwin County sheriff that his accent wasn’t German. Jacques was lucky he wasn’t shot that night.
Seventy years passed quietly. Jacques never married and lived modestly in a small bungalow near Point Clear. He was a Godly man who attended regular Mass and volunteered to work with the poor. His brother’s daughter had emigrated from France after the war and lived up the road in the small town of Fair Hope. She had married a boy from Wilmer and they had two children — a boy and a girl. Both reluctantly looked after their aging great uncle after the niece and her husband passed away in a car accident on Hwy. 98. And both children secretly hoped being named in their great uncle’s will would mean a big inheritance. One night, he hinted at “The greatest treasure of all time would be theirs to guard.” Greatest treasure? They fantasized about gold bars and lots of cash. Their greed made them blind to the true fortune in their grasp.
Jacques suddenly died from pancreatic cancer. In February, he was diagnosed. By April, he was lowered into the rich Alabama soil. His initial reaction to the dire prognosis was, “I’ve lived a long life and it is time to let go.” And a few weeks later, his last words to his great niece and nephew were, “The cup.” They had no clue what he was talking about.
The day came when the two found out about their great fortune. They had inherited the grand sum of $13,432 each, his house and the possessions within. Both walked out of the lawyer’s office shaken and visibly angry. They immediately drove to Point Clear and picked over his old bungalow for anything remotely valuable. They then threw the remaining items into an old box and drove as fast as they could to the Thrift shop. Jacques’ great nephew slammed the box on the counter and said in a huff, “Gimme a receipt for my taxes.” The lady behind the counter, a red-headed woman who appeared to be close to 40, looked up from her Jane Austen novel and smiled. Miss Agatha Harkey said, “Yes sir. Thank you for your donation. You’ve really helped the sick and the poor.”
Little did she know how right she was.
The cat clock sold first. Considered a classic, the couple from Atlanta had paid full price for it. (It was worth 10x what it was listed for and was quite a steal.) A young married couple from Pensacola bought the waffle iron for a good price. Agatha Harkey had bought the French book of poems for 50 cents. She was smitten with the French language and wanted to read her favorite poems in her favorite tongue. No one wanted the battered old chalice, but then again, who would? It’s beauty wasn’t on the outside.
It was a cloudy June afternoon in Orange Beach. Agatha sat on the Gulf’s edge, reading her little book of poems. The red beach flag popped against the dark gray sky. Storms rolled just off shore, sending in rip currents and massive waves. It nearly gave her the beach to herself — a rarity for a June Friday afternoon. She loved reading Jacques’ name in the inside cover. She loved how the words rolled off her tongue so effortlessly. And on that cool June afternoon, she noticed something strange on page 100. There, written in Jacque’s own hand, were the words, “Knights of the Templar.” Pieces began to fall in place one after another. Jacques de Molay had a secret. A secret that almost went to the grave with him.
His job was to guard something. But what? She read the book and found another clue — a folded piece of yellowed paper. It was a poem by the 12th century French poet Chretien de Troyes. She read it and her jaw dropped. It was about the Holy Grail. Could Jacques have been guarding the Grail? Could that be why he fled Europe during the war? Was that why he ended up near Mobile, Alabama? Was he afraid it would fall into Nazi hands?
The Holy Grail, the chalice used by Jesus during the last supper was sitting in the Thrift Shop! She slammed the book shut and ran back to her car. She had to get back to the shop — and now! The tourists checking out of their rental properties and clogging the highway would just have to get out of her way.
Agatha Harkey became an honorary member of the Knights of Templar that day. She swore on her life that she’d protect the cup. She bought it for $5 and kept it safely in a safe in her home. And while she continued to work at the Thrift Shop, she also began volunteering at the Children’s Hospital. Every day after work, she and her old cup would visit the terminally ill children. And every day after work, miracles happened for kids who truly needed a one.
Jacques de Molay‘s cup was indeed the greatest treasure of all time. And only someone as good as Agatha Harkey would know the true power of the chalice in the Thrift Shop.
I can’t wait for your book!!
Your insight shows you’ve got a lot in common with Agatha Harkey. Awesome story.
Awesome story. A very good moral to the story.
Awesome! Mr. Fab is very interested in the Knights of the Templar, Illuminati, etc.
Marshall – I LOVE your stories! They are always full of character, creative and harken back to the stories from a time when people wrote from the heart, not for their bank accounts, and stories were for the entire family, not just the adults.
What a cool story. You have mastered the redemption theme in this wonderful yarn.
While I appreciate Holy Spirit Thrift Shop (picture and all) being included in the story, I find the depiction of our donors and volunteers is not so flattering. I hope no one confuses the fictional account with the fact that Holy Spirit Thrift Shop is quite real. In our five years of operation, we have donated almost $400,000 to various organizations to help people with various kinds of needs — physical, emotional, social and spiritual. These funds have helped made very real differences in many people’s lives.
This is possible only because our many donors are quite generous and supportive. Our volunteers (who come from many backgrounds and from many different churches) work hard to select the very best and most useful of donated items for sale. And, of course we have lots of wonderful customers, too — many of whom are quite loyal and visit us frequently as donors and customers.
So, Holy Spirit Thrift Shop is very real, and so are the amazing experiences of working at the Thrift Shop. I don’t want to use the word “miracle” because that suggests something occurred that is physically impossible. Some of them are very unexpected, generous, random acts of kindness. Others are the result of multiple highly unlikely events. These things are not impossible, just highly unlikely; and there are dozens of them. We just say, “It’s a God thing.”
You may wonder, “What is he talking about?” Most of them are too complicated to explain here, but let me give you a few examples:
A woman in poverty was searching a present for her ailing husband. She found a small, unusual cabinet at the Thrift Shop that exactly fit his hobby needs. It was obvious she had very little money and really wanted the cabinet for her husband (even though the item had little practical value) so we gave her the cabinet at a good price. Several days later, she came back to the Shop to tell us, with tears of joy in her eyes, that she had gotten a job, her husband was thrilled with the little cabinet, he was doing much better, etc… And she wanted to make a donation to ‘thank us’ for what that little cabinet had meant to both of them.
We wonder, but will never really know, how much “magic” that little cabinet held for them.
When we moved to the new (current) building, we needed signage but the quotes for the big, new signs were very expensive. We had to move soon, good signs were critical, we were wondering how we would pay for it, if we should make our own, etc. The next afternoon, a customer dropped by, looked around for a few minutes and, as he was leaving said, “Oh, I heard you are moving. I do signs, so if you need any, let me know. You can just pay me for the materials.”
We got the signs we needed…
A young couple came by in the early afternoon a few weeks before Christmas. They were shopping for gifts and such for their three small children. Just so happens, that morning we had received a donation of several toys in perfect condition, many of them still in their original packaging. It also just happened that the day before, someone had donated some large bags of children’s clothing. It just happened that we had opened the bag that morning and, while most the clothing was very nice, unfortunately, it had a faint smoke odor and we could not sell the clothes in the store, so we had set the bags aside to go to a shelter for their possible use. But, as we talked to this young couple, we happened to remember the bags in the back, we asked if they would like to sort through them. They could have what they needed; no charge. They looked through it all and found most of those clothes would fit their children, etc…
There is more to this story, but, to be brief: they were so excited. The young mother said, “I’m going to take this home right now. I’ll wash them before the girls get home. Most of them are so nice. I’ll wrap them and put them under the tree. They will have the dolls, new clothes, we’re going to have a great Christmas….”
Obviously! And what a Christmas Gift that was for you as well!!!
Yep, these and lots of other things sometimes “just happen” at Holy Spirit Thrift Shop. We say, “It’s a God Thing.”
You may want to reflect on what happens in your life. I’ll bet you also have a “God Thing” happen now and then.
I’m absolutely stunned and disappointed that you are so offended by the story. But since you are, I’ve removed the thrift shop name from the story.
As for your comment about “God Things,” I have had several of them in my life (since you don’t know me to make such a presumptuous judgement). Thanks for writing.
I was not offended by the story. In fact, I liked the story. My concern was the description of a donor who seemed rude and a volunteer who was reading a book — perhaps being insensitive to a donor. Anyone can have a ‘bad day,’ but this behavior is not typical of our donors or our volunteers. Of course, your removing the name takes cares of that. Thank you!
We may not have the physical chalice used by Jesus, but we certainly have the teachings that are spiritual chalices. The examples of Holy Spirit Thrift Shop “God Things” are very real, but sometimes mysterious, manifestations of what may happen when we follow those teachings.
And, most certainly, I did not in any way mean to suggest any presumed judgment of you. The last lines, “You may want to reflect….” presumed many people would be reading my words and, hopefully, find some inspiration from these very real stories. I certainly did not mean to suggest that you, personally, had a need to improve yourself. On the contrary, the theme of your story clearly reflects a commitment to do the right things, help others who are in need, and a respect for people who have these commitments.
But that was my error, ambiguity in my words. After all, this is your web site, and I was not sensitive to that. My sincere apologies!!
My best wishes to you as you write and inspire others.
How delighted I was to read your story! How wonderful to be recognized for the work we do!! Holy Spirit is a little church with approx. 175 members, most of whom are retired folks. We have grown from 1400 sq.ft. in 2007 to over 5,000 sq. ft. in 2012!
Sometimes, I must admit, donors are not happy when they come in (either sad, disappointed, etc>) BUT they never leave that way!! As for the volunteers, I don’t know anyone who has the time to read!!!! (If they did, I can’t think of a more worthwhile book than Jane Austin!!) One plus to our endeavors is
the number of people who come in regularly who are lonely, need a hug, and those who have become friends over the 5 years of our operation! We are honored by your
story! (My husband says he’s seen you inour little shop, come back again!!) God blessl!!!
What an awesome story and what an honor to mention the thrift shop run by Holy Spirit. I hope you will reconsider adding the shop sign. It was such a blessing for you to mention us. Thank you!
Love your work! As a volunteer, I am thrilled you chose Holy Spirit Thrift Shop as the setting for your story. What an honor! Thank you for giving our little charity a nice plug! Peace to you.