.God, when I was a young boy, my father told me and my siblings that pirates long ago had buried treasure on our family land of 100 acres. The vision of searching for and finding a treasure trove of riches of silver, gold, and jewels was something that distracted us from our daily routines and me from the burdens of polio and paralysis. For me, if only I could find that treasure, I would be consumed with wealth, happiness, and joy.
My father saw my excitement. He showed me an old authentic treasure map he had found. He said, “Son, follow the map. When you find the spot marked with an X, that is where the treasure will be found.” It did not matter to me that the map was not made of parchment paper or sheepskin but rather Nifty notebook paper, or that the treasure was always found inside a Maryland Club coffee can and not an ancient chest, or that the treasure inside the can was just a few pennies, nickels, and dimes and not gold doubloons. What mattered at the end of each quest was the sheer joy in the pursuit of the treasure.
God, in adulthood, I like many others, often think that if I accumulate enough wealth, a bigger home, a nicer car or the latest electronic device, all would be right in my world. My life would be perfect. I’ve learned that the riches which sustain me are not my possessions or the house at the end of my street. Rather, what matters most is the search for what treasure lies at the end of my search for the Holy treasure You buried for me.
It is the prayerful journey as much as the treasure found at the end of it.
It is in giving away the treasure to others after I have received it.
It is in the sharing of the treasure with others that I get to keep it.
God, please help me and all Your children pursue daily the quest for Your Holy treasure. For when the Holy treasure is found on Earth, that is not the ending. That is just when the greatest journey begins. We get to find and keep the most precious, everlasting, redeeming wealth in Your Kingdom. It is marked with a Cross, not an X. That is where Eternal Love is found. Amen
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Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 120-lawyer full service firm in Houston, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur and Inspirational Speaker. For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to the Bending Angel website.