Treasure

Jesus described the alternative Empire he came to proclaim, incarnate and establish as treasure hidden in a filed and as a pearl of great price.

The Empire of heaven is counter to that of Rome and rooted not in violence, slavery and oppression but peace, service and love.

The Empire’s of this world that have come and gone nevertheless share characteristics of their unseen invisible Heavenly counterpart.

They are universal and embrace all peoples, they require a response it is impossible to remain neutral in or to either earthly of heavenly Empire’s.

In and of themselves these alternative Empire’s mysteriously grow, have a life in and of themselves and bear fruit the one form to evil and the other to good.

This Heavenly treasure is hidden because God delights in playing the game of hide and seek, a game that all children love.

This is a game of love in contrast to the bullying that so often characterises childrens lives on the playground.

It turns out that there is about us and our reality that suggests to us that there is a treasure worth seeking.

It turns out also that there is that about our experience that confirms that intuition.

For it is the caser that we all have a passion, an interest a gift, something that delights us and causes our heart to sing in response.

And this sung heart response is not simply to this things that we have discovered hidden within the reality that is always there.

Nor is this sung heart response simply to the person who evokes our love and passion either.

This sung heart response is to that which connects what it is that holds all our peculiar, different and yet treasured moments and that is God who is love.

There is that about our experience of this life and this world which is treasure that surprises us with inner joy, that we want to share and that abides within us always.

And it is this treasure that enables us to respond to the one who hides it in such a way that we can dare to imagine the world ordered along Heavenly lines and not only earthly ones.

And not simply to imagine but actually to dare to participate in the building of an alternative Empire, characterised by shared treasure and love.

 

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