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Good morning.

This week I’m turning a lens on the parables of Jesus, which cover many areas of human life.  Indeed, they are such adaptable teaching stories that we can apply them to the changing circumstances of our own lives and, in doing so, find something new in them.  Sometimes the parable seems to speak to our day-to-day concerns and sometimes it seems to point to the bigger picture. The parable I want to share today seems to me to come into this category.

Jesus said; ‘The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.’

On the face of it, we can certainly identify with the idea of investing all we have in something of unparalleled value, something that gives direction and purpose to our life. The little twist in this story is that the reassurance is hidden. It is not there for all to see but is only found, we presume, by one who digs for it. Perhaps this parable is urging us to look beneath the surface in order to find the thing of great value. Perhaps it was within us all the time and we couldn’t see it.

The most valuable treasure we can seek is not a thing to purchase, some object outside ourselves, but is nothing other than our very life, directed towards everything that has value. The treasure within is our compassion for others, our desire for God, our commitment to live as well as we can in this world and our hope for the world to come.

Help us this day, O God, to see the treasure within us, to cherish what you have already given us; our life, our gratitude, our capacity to love and to be loved. Amen.