Hidden Treasures

The day before Thanksgiving, I wanted to get my dining room table prepared with special settings and decorations to celebrate the family’s gathering. I knelt down on the kitchen floor, in order to reach far into the back of a cabinet, where the nicer dinner and dessert plates are kept. Lo and behold: There was a package of special coffee I had ordered from Colombia over a year ago! Excited to see it, I looked for the expiration date: it had expired 6 months ago! I knew it would taste stale, and debated what to do with it. Too expensive to toss in the trash, but, oh it was a treasure to purchase – and was hidden away to be forgotten.

The next morning, I had to kneel down again, this time onto the dining room floor, in front of my china cabinet, to get a special cheese serving plate. As I reached past the front items, my hand pulled out a pink little wooden, hand painted bird house. It jarred my memory – didn’t I also have a light blue one? Sure enough, my hand reached back and there it was! I hadn’t seen these items for many years, when they would add to the spring decor for family dinners.

How many spiritual treasures do we keep tucked away, just to be forgotten, and perhaps re-discovered by happenstance? They can bring back memories of happy times, moments that have brought us to who we are today. A prayer we learned as a child? A faith based retreat? Conversation with a close friend? Sunset on the ocean or behind a mountain? Moonrise? A melody or lyrics? Art? Autumn leaves? A spiritual adage? Celebration of Mass? So many gifts that bring beauty to our lives!

During this time of year, focusing on gratitude, where are our hidden spiritual treasures? It’s time to bring them to the forefront, ponder them, and draw on them to live our story. What treasures have we been given? May we not stash them too far back to be forgotten.