“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up.
Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” Matt. 13:44

I used to picture this parable like a person stumbled upon an overflowing treasure chest which someone else buried in a field, bags of gold and sparkling gems already amassed and reburied for safe keeping. I pictured the man in the story was going to get the treasure in one big dig.

As I’ve meditated on it, I’ve come to a new understanding. I’m strolling in a field and something shiny catches my eye. I move the dirt around to uncover a ribbon of warm gold melded into a rock in the field. My bare hands only take me so far and I don’t have other tools with me to chisel it out and take it home. Come to think of it, whose land is this anyway? Am I living in a “finders keepers” world?

I move more dirt around and see other glints of marbling metal lacing the ground. Now, I’m really intrigued. This hints that the whole field might be gilded.

I sell all I have because I can already tell that the potential inside this field is more valuable than my assets could ever be. But it’s going to take some work. I’ll have to walk this field a lot, learn what to look for, dig, walk, look and dig some more. And I’ll probably need some friends to help.

So, now I’ve come to see the treasure is not fully assembled in a chest that we uncover with one big dig but is nestled in a field that is infinitely diggable, discoverable. It will take a lifetime of unearthing to know what’s here.

That’s the invitation- for us to discover this field together. To earnestly seek. To be attuned to see treasure where before we might have just seen dust. To shout for joy when one of us strikes gold as we share it and turn it over in our hands. To pitch our tents together as we sojourn through the field we bought. 

Won’t you come and join us?

Lisa Shirk, Founding Director