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Good morning.

I’m an armchair archaeologist. It’s a bit like being a sofa based sports fan; I’m passionate about the activity but I’ve never actually become an active participant. I must have watched Tony Robinson jump in and out of hundreds of trenches on archeological digs on television, but I have yet to personally brandish a trowel.

I envy Eric Lawes. He was the lucky man who on this day in 1992 discovered the Hoxne Hoard in Suffolk. It was the largest hoard of Roman silver and gold ever found in Britain, and the largest collection of 4th and 5th century coins to have been found anywhere within the bounds of the former Roman Empire. He found this buried treasure while using a metal detector to search for a friend’s lost hammer. Not very Indiana Jones, but just as exciting in my view!

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There’s something thrilling and romantic about buried treasure that goes beyond the monetary value of ancient stash. But of course, there’s a huge difference between treasuring old, cold, corroding metal and treasuring the living, loving, vulnerable people around us.

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus of Nazareth said ‘where your treasure is, there will your heart be also’. Whatever we treasure most in our hearts we will give most attention to. I fear that today most of my attention will go to the screens on my phone, my laptop and my television. What does that say about what I treasure in my heart?

Perhaps if I excavate my conscience to uncover what I truly treasure I might choose to give more attention to people, to God or to making a difference in this world.

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Lord God thank you for the gift of people we can support through difficult times. Today may they know just how much we treasure them, Amen.