Treasures

(May 5, 2021) Picture yourself standing in your garage. It’s as clean and organized as a garage can be. It has room for your car and your bike, the lawnmower, gardening supplies, workbench and tools, and maybe even a couple lawn games or kids’ toys. It’s a good garage, and yet it’s not your home.

Above the garage there’s an attic. Imagine that it’s immaculately clean; all kinds of treasures are carefully stored up there. Picture the attic full of shining gems that are not diamonds but, miraculously, countless intangibles like love, joy, patience, insight, happiness, guidance, fulfillment, perseverance, peace, discipline, generosity, kindness, and wisdom.  

Now, imagine you’re working in the garage and you start feeling like something is missing. You’re not sure what, exactly. So you stop what you’re doing and try to figure out what’s causing your unrest. Before long you realize that what’s missing is something that’s in the attic. You look up at the ceiling and notice a door with a chain hanging from it. You pull the chain and, as the door swings down, you see stairs attached to it. You reach up and pull them down; a full staircase unfolds and reaches the floor. The staircase is sturdy and you trust it to hold your weight. You climb up the stairs to get to the treasures in the attic; you won’t rest until you’ve found what you need. 

I like to use the attic as an analogy for heaven and also for how we can experience heaven on earth. The main part of the garage is like our life on earth: it’s a little messy. The garage is not our permanent home and so we oftentimes feel unfulfilled. The attic, on the other hand, is heaven and eternal life. It’s where our true home is, and what we were created for. It’s where perfect love, peace, and all the other treasures are found. We need the attic door, as we need Jesus, to help us reach the treasures of heaven. The staircase attached to the door is our faith. The staircase is everything God gives us to show us His love and help us share it with the people around us: the Scriptures, our prayer time, the sacraments, our friends and family, our church community, and even the miracles of nature. The staircase is given to guide us, support us, and lead us to our destination. The stairs are available to us; it’s our choice to use them and learn from them.

Now, here’s the best news: These treasures are inside our hearts, also! God created us in His image. We don’t have to go far to find Him; He’s ever-present, ready and waiting to show us His love, His peace, and His way to heaven. At our baptism, we received His grace and His Spirit to live in us and do the works He did as the man named Jesus. God simply asks that we make the effort, to stop what we’re doing for a few moments each day and seek out His treasures. 

When we pray, we open our minds and hearts to see what God has in store for us in that moment. When we pray, we open the door to His treasures.

“And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” 

John 14:13-14

“Lord, thank You for loving me! Help me remember to open the door to all the treasures You offer me each day.”

This article is a personal reflection by Gina Bedell © 2021. It and other reflections written by her invite the reader to ponder a given topic and then seek deeper answers through prayer, additional spiritual reading, and/or consultation with clergy or other persons who may guide the reader to a deeper faith and understanding of God’s love and will for their life.