Treasure

Christmas day brings treasure. There are the treasures of gifts given and received.  Expressions of love and care and of knowing one another so that just the right gifts are given.  There are the treasures of a day together.  Time with family and friends.  Treasures of good food.  Delectable treats.

A treasure for me this Christmas is this painting by my daughter, Rebecca.  The colour is dyed into the canvas so that even the artist material is an integral part of the painting.  Stitches are also sewn into the fabric.  Within the painting, hidden among all the other structures is one special home.  The treasure of this painting is in its whole, canvas and all.  It is subtle, but no less a treasure.

Don't forget those hidden treasures within us all.  Like this painting, the treasures may be hidden away behind clutter.  There are areas of our lives and hearts that are tucked away and waiting to emerge.  Perhaps dreams held since we were children.  Parts of us that are gifts deeply ingrained and stitched into the fabric of our being that have not yet been discovered or developed.  Old barns tucked away deep in the hills of our hearts were there are the seeds of new beginnings.  Love and light emerging in our souls.  The treasure of God's Spirit there deep within us but not yet recognized or fully appreciated.

On this day those thousands of years ago there was a new beginning.  A new birth of good news of great joy that is for us all.  That birth was not immediately recognized.  It happened in a remote and ordinary place.  Today that new birth is within the ordinary places of us all.  Behold.  Look carefully within. Find that missing present and unwrap it!  Learn to recognize its stirrings and cries.  May the child of God be born in our hearts today.  May he be there in the manger of our souls.  May we call Him by name and delight in His presence.  May we magnify Him and hold the reality of his being as our greatest treasure this day.

I wish each unique and special person who somehow has stumbled to this place a most blessed Christmas Day.