Most of us, in the past adolescent years of our lives, had the wisdom of Solomon, who with fervor and the idealism of youth prayed, “O LORD, my God, you have made me, your servant, king to succeed my father David; . . . Give your servant an understanding heart to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong.” 1 Kings 3:9 But then, in his adult life, Solomon forgot this and the advice of his dying father, “Be strong; be a man! Keep the mandate of the LORD, your God, walking in his ways.” 1 Kings 2:2-3 His fervor and God-centeredness gave way to the “good life” of power, pleasures and riches, and the eventual destruction of his kingdom and the scattering of the people he was anointed to serve. (See 1 Kings 10:14 – 11:8.)
I guess that humanity throughout its history has been this way. Even Jesus preached about heaven by comparing it to “treasure buried in a field” that we spend so much of our adult lives storing up for ourselves and our loved ones. (Matthew 13:44-47) And what does it get us and our children? Why do we do this? Take some time to think about that!
THE HALLMARK CHANNEL
An acquaintance of mine, someone I have known for many decades, seems to have been transformed over the past few years into someone who values less the tangible “treasures” and now is enjoying the intangible treasures and graces that have been there all along. In this “new life” she has found happiness for “Where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.” Matthew 6:21
Why the change? Perhaps it is due to the wisdom of aging. Other than that, the only significant change that has occurred in her life is that she stopped watching a lot of the major and movie network shows and started watching the Hallmark channel where the movie themes are practically all the same: one is going through life, directing it toward what one thinks is the “prize”, the “treasure”, and then, suddenly, one “experiences” something different and all the self-directing of one’s life changes.
A LIFE-CHANGING “RE-CALCULATE”
Isn’t this what Solomon’s adult life missed – the course correction? Isn’t this what Jesus really means? Heaven is like a “buried treasure.” No, not any buried treasure – the real buried treasure that your heart and soul really wants, the one that will satisfy you forever. You first have to give yourself the time to figure out what the “buried treasure” is for you. Heaven begins when you start longing for that treasure.
SEEKING OUR REAL TREASURES
Like Dion’s teenage-years pastor told him (See our website post), and the 80-year-old Dion still remembers, the real “treasures” of life are truth and virtue. And it is only when our words and actions reveal to ourselves and to others that these are what our hearts and souls “treasure”, that we and our family members – all God’s family members – find happiness and peace.
Maybe we, and our children, need to devote a portion of our day or week to considering: what really are the things we treasure? And what do these choices we are making reveal – even those thought-to-be-insignificant choices as to what we focus our attention on and what we watch? What do they reveal about what we really treasure?
Sister Loretta
