LOOKING FOR TREASURE?
Fr Roy Pannell, a retired priest from Chesterfield reflects on the treasures in his life.
FOOL’S GOLD
Forgive me when I remember things from way back when I was a little boy. It’s called nostalgia. When I was “first bike age” my friend Alan and I used to go to a piece of waste ground with bike paths criss-crossing through it. On one side, there was a mound with bushes and a small white chalk cliff. It was there that we found pieces of chalk with gold on them. Yes bright shiny gold! We told no-one about it because it was our deadly secret. It was our treasure and one day we planned to sell it for a fortune! However, one day we did tell an older guy who laughed at us and said “That is called Fool’s Gold!” Oh dear!
YOUR TREASURE
Since then I have found other treasures, which over the years I seem to have lost! Where did my fabulous autograph books go? I had some wonderful ones; Mary Poppins (a.k.a. Julie Andrews), James Bond (a.k.a. Sean Connery), Buzz Lightyear (Joke!) Where are my vinyl records now? Where are my favourite pair of jeans from 1983 and my beautiful white mini car? All gone! What are your treasures at this moment? Where will they be in thirty years’ time? Where will your wonderful trainers be in ten years from now? Or your play station, your fabulous smart phone or the skateboard that you take to bed with you each night in case someone pinches it?
CAST ASIDE
It’s almost, yes almost, as if they don’t really belong to us, these treasures. We love them to bits for a while, but then they get broken or we lose interest or they simply go out of fashion. Did you see the film Toy Story? The cowboy was the boy’s favourite toy for a long time and then he was cast aside. We too look after our treasures and then tire of them and replace them. That’s why every year the animal welfare people remind us that, “A dog is a pet for life not just for Christmas.”
STORE UP TREASURE
Jesus said that we should try to store up treasures for ourselves in Heaven. Does that mean that I shall see my autograph books again? Sadly, no it doesn’t. Does it mean that we should deposit treasure in the Bank of Heaven, saving it for a rainy day? No, not really. Although in Rome there is a bank called “The Bank of The Holy Spirit!” I wonder what that is all about? No, Jesus is saying that there is stuff that will last, and stuff that won’t. Even now, we should try to understand the difference. So what is it that will last forever?
EVER LASTING TREASURE
You can make your own list. Mine goes something like this:
◗ Good FRIENDSHIPS ones that have been through good and bad times.
◗ Happy and beautiful MEMORIES, usually shared with others.
◗ My FAITH and HOPE, which has been very weak at times, but which has seen me through difficult times.
◗ LOVE, above all love that is given and received with friends and family.
◗ The desire to PRAY and to PRAISE the True and Living God.
◗ The GIFTS that God has given me.
◗ LAUGHTER and TEARS.
◗ MUSIC and COLOUR, I can’t imagine life without these.
That’s mine at this moment. However, I have to say I wish that I could find my autograph books! Not really!!
REFLECTION
“Like children playing on the beach we have built houses of sand. The wave of time has come and the laughter of the tides has submerged everything. But we know Lord, that if our earthly treasures are destroyed you are storing for us treasures in Heaven. Give us strength to leave our earthly treasures and our games in the sand. Direct our boat toward the shores of Eternity.” Lucien Deiss (adapted by Fr Roy)
