In today's Gospel, Matthew 13: 44-52, we are told that the "kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind. when it is full they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad they throw away. Thus it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth."
Notice several things: that heaven can be found here on earth, that you and I are capable of finding heaven and then hiding it again, that heaven here on earth, or beyond, is not cheap. Both the person who found it buried in a field and the merchant who searched for "fine pearls" sold everything they had to "buy" the treasure which heaven is! Am I willing to search for heaven here on earth? And what does heaven here on earth look like? I think heaven here on earth is found by the person who is willing to be his/her true self and do whatever necessary to be true to oneself. It's the artist or musician, the garbage collector, the mother/father, the grandmother/father, the teacher, nurse, engineer, the photographer, civil rights advocate who, like John Lewis, risks everything for what one felt called to become for the sake of what is right and and true and beautiful. It is the young man/woman who marries his/her soulmate even when one's parents or siblings or friends object. It is the homosexual person who comes out of the closet and is proud to be the person God created him/her to be! It is the person who divorces one's first husband/wife to protect oneself and one's children from abuse and marries another, risking misunderstanding, rejection, even by one's church!
Finding heaven here on earth is truly like casting one's net out into the deep and finding "fish" of all kinds. Some are good "fish" and some are not and need to be "thrown" out of one life. The price of selecting what is right for oneself and therefore experiencing a taste of heaven here on earth may mean "selling all that one has" and starting over!
What do I need to "sell"? What do I need to "throw away" so as to taste heaven here on earth? What price do I need to pay? I need to know that the freedom and peace God's will for me involves me making choices that are right for me and, most times, that leads to opposition! Do I avoid what is right for me to avoid being misunderstood by friends or family members? Is that why I so seldom experience heaven here on earth?
Lord, may I risk being the person you are calling me to become! May I sell what I need to sell to buy that precious pearl of being my unique self, my true self where the kingdom of heaven is buried!
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