Imagine that you have just won the lottery – a multi-million dollar jackpot. Imagine unearthing a large metal box while digging in your garden, and finding it filled with cash – all big bills. Imagine you fall asleep and God comes in a dream and offers you anything you want.
Stories of buried treasure, sudden wealth and dreams that come true are among the oldest and most universal fables in every human culture. Even the thought of sudden wealth quickens the pulse and stirs the imagination. What if? Would all our troubles be over if we were rich? Would doors open to a new future?
Maybe. Wealth without wisdom is another common theme in fables. “The fool is easily parted from his money” is a well-known adage. Wealth is really just another form of power. Having power increases our options but also complicates our lives, bringing more responsibility. It can create indolence or attract false friends and ironically it can make us more avaricious and obsessed with money than before we had it.
We quickly learn another popular saying, that money can’t buy happiness. How many lottery winners later report that their sudden windfall proved destructive and distracting to the more important values of their personal lives, straining family relationships, blurring former career goals and lessening the discipline that once held their lives in focus and on course?
In today’s gospel, we hear Jesus compare the kingdom of God to finding a treasure or a pearl of great price. But, as we all know, he was not describing earthly wealth or power. His many parables drew people into the drama of how they might respond to the greatest of all treasures – to be in the presence of God. Jeus stirred imaginations as the first step toward understanding that true, lasting happiness is found only with God. That is the truth that wisdom teaches us.
As we hear in today’s first reading, God was pleased when Solomon asked for wisdom, for this showed he was already wise and would be a good leader. Jesus appealed to the spiritual seekers in the crowd who already knew that finding God brings every other gift, and that life without God, even with wealth and power, would be empty and pointless.
We all spend a lot of time and energy trying to figure out what will make us truly happy. As we hear in today’s gospel account about the two men who gave up everything they had to possess the buried treasure or the priceless pearl, the path to true joy, requires that we are willing to give up everything to obtain it. It’s like true, mature love. Only love given away freely comes back to us in joy. Seeking first the will of God is the secret to finding everything else we need as well. God alone brings us lasting joy.
The truth of the Gospel affirms that peace of mind and lasting happiness come to those who develop and use their gifts well, just as Solomon longed for the wisdom to serve his people. Wisdom is to know how to apply this truth to our choices day by day. The choices we make in life will determine the outcome of our journey. Blessed are they who find the treasure of God’s love and spend their lives sharing it with others!