Have you ever been able to create a time capsule at your school? Or better yet, were you ever the kind that managed to open a time capsule from a class 10 or 20 years earlier? It’s a great moment of recollection, laughs at some of the crazy styles, and recalls sad moments and what we learned from them. While traditional hope chests are much more than a time capsule, modern hope chests – what I’d like to call teachable treasure chests – can take on new meaning with culture change.

Traditionally, hope chests are wooden boxes or trunks containing special or expensive clothing and other goods that would serve as a dowry for a bride in the 18th century. Families often arranged marriages with the intention of merging family fortunes, and the dowry, which was often contained or partially contained in the chest of hope, was an attempt by the bride’s family to attract the groom’s family. to a settlement, offering valuable items and skills. that would elevate the marriage.

The dowry can be anything: money, property, or, in the case of the hope chest, any item that a woman brings into marriage as a gift to her husband. A hand-embroidered towel or tablecloth would have some monetary value, but it was also a statement that you had delicate sewing skills that would serve the family well. However, dowries became a burden on poorer families who could not accumulate enough incentives to find a decent partner and, as the world modernized, the practice was abused, thus almost all modern cultures they banned it.

Often times, many of the items in hope chests were passed down from generation to generation, so not only was there a marital and sometimes financial meaning to the contents of the chest, but there was a special and personal meaning to it. the bride will remember her own story. It gives the bride a reminder of the matriarchs of the previous family, but also the hope that these passed down elements can help secure her own future.

The chest itself does not have to be of a particular material to be considered a chest of hope. Since wooden chests tend to be a bit pricey, the plastic containers that you can buy for $ 10 at Walmart will serve to store your items until you can pick up that special, perhaps fancier, container for your memories and hopes. However, if you can now consider a wooden chest, the most popular type of wood is cedar. One reason is that moths seem to stay away better when using cedar, but the reason it sounds better is that it smells heavenly. If lighter colored wood like cedar isn’t your particular preference, don’t worry! Many of the cedar chests on the market today are made of cedar or lined with cedar on the inside, but can be stained on the outside to look like cherry, oak, pine, or even black or white.

So putting a dowry in the chest of hope is out of date … what can be put in a chest of hope that has relevance to today’s culture and tomorrow’s generation? As mentioned in the opening, a modern title for a chest of hope could be “teachable treasure chest”, intended to fill it with items that will edify future generations and give them hope, to put a new twist on the definition. from the term “chest of hope”. While my own ideas of what to put in a modern hope chest may require a bit more effort and consideration, the benefits for future generations are worth the work. Here are some ideas of what you might consider filling your chest with hope:

• Write letters to the person you know will inherit the chest and include tips and anecdotes from your own life.
• If scripture is important in your family, include some favorite handwritten scriptures that were special or helpful to you in your own life.
• Select some photos that would be very valuable to the person receiving the chest; Try to include photos of previous generations along with a story about their lives.
• A children’s storybook that is very special to you
• A drawing or craft made for you by your child (especially if that child will receive the chest) that is very special to you, even if it is falling apart
• A DVD with videos that are special for you from your childhood and / or the childhood of the person who will receive the chest.
• The recipient’s baby book (if they have one)
• Special and favorite jewels that you would like the recipient to appreciate too

These are just a few ideas. If there are special items from past generations that are more specific, it’s a good idea to include them as well, along with an explanation of the meaning. Anything you put in the chest should communicate a message to the recipient. A children’s storybook you read when you were little is likely to be in tatters, and its inclusion communicates that children’s reading is very important to you. A pipe cleaner and construction paper craft, especially one made by the recipient as a child, communicates the meaning you give to a gift from that person, even if the gift is not functional at all. Show that you appreciate the person’s heart by giving it instead of what the gift is.

All the items included in the chest can serve as a learning moment for the recipient. So be careful what you put there and consider the message you are sending. Whether it’s a chest full of great-grandmother’s old china, grandma’s hand-embroidered wedding dress, and your mom’s favorite costume jewelery and pantsuit, or loaded with handwritten letters, photos, and items. memorable childhoods, a chest of hope can inspire, instruct, and invigorate future generations.