Young Woman with a Pearl Necklace by Jan Vermeer van Delft
Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.
A competent wife, how does one find her? Her value is far above pearls.
What a rare find is a capable wife! Her worth is far beyond that of rubies.
(Proverbs 31:10, three times.)
Rubies, pearls, rubies: clearly a wise husband knows he has a precious gift in a good partner.
What chance we will know a treasure when it appears before us? The blessing of another person, the gift of a sunset or of rain, the courtesy shown by a cautious driver, the laughter of a friend. These are treasures great and small, not all worth more than precious jewels, but all worthy of appreciation and thanks.
In the gospel story for the end of July 2023 we come across another treasure, in a story told by Jesus: a treasure hidden in a field. Finding it, the finder does not waste any time, but goes and buys the field, in order to have the treasure. Drop everything else. This is it. Next to it nothing else matters. They fade into the background.
Kind of like falling in love. All else fades away, just a murmur of sound and some vague apparitions, form the background. If you see the one right in front of you, my friend, for who they are.
Jesus does not say the kingdom is like a person falling in love, but does he have to? The single-minded vision is there, the incautious extravagance of setting all other agenda aside, the rightness of doing so.
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.” (Matthew 13:44,45)
Worth it.
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