Deal of a Lifetime

You wouldn’t believe me if I told you what I found today.  I can hardly believe it myself! It had been a bit of a rough day and so I went for an evening stroll. I took my normal route that went around the back of our house and along the wooded path.  I’m not sure how long I was walking but I imagine it was forever because when I looked up I didn’t quite know where I was. I was in a lush green meadow, with a small creek running right through it.  It was the most beautiful land I’d ever seen. It was as if the clouds came rolling over the sky just to catch a glimpse of it all. I didn’t see any fences or markings of private property, so I kept walking on in. Birds chirped and the smell of spring wafted into my nostrils on a gentle breeze.

As I came around the corner there was a hill with three lone trees standing on top. They shimmered in the sun almost like a mirage. I’m not sure how else to explain it but it’s like those trees were drawing me in; they radiated love and joy. I felt crazy, but nonetheless I climbed the hill. They were great big pines crowned with needles everywhere and had sap dripping down the trunks. I’d never known such a sense of safety and comfort as I did on that hill. I sat in the shade of the tree and it was like a refuge.

That is when I saw it. Something sticking out of the ground. I thought it was a tree root at first, but as I looked closer it was clear that it was the edge of a chest of some kind. My curiosity gripped me like a fever and at that moment I knew it was the most important thing in the world that I uncover that chest.

So I began to dig. I clawed at the ground with my hands, and although I was expecting dry, rough earth to claw back at me it was soft, black soil that easily moved aside like the drawing back of a curtain. I finally uncovered the chest and my heart began to pound. It was a very unassuming box, humble, not like the treasure chests you hear of in tales as a child. My heart thumping, I took a deep breath and opened the box…

I could not believe my eyes! The box overflowed with such precious treasures: Forgiveness, Love, Hope, Salvation, Grace, and Rest! There has never been a luckier man in the world. I knew at once that I must attempt to see if I could purchase this property so that I might spend all my days underneath the tree with my new treasures.  The joy from what I had discovered reinvigorated my whole body and soul and I began to run back along the path. Laughing along the way I thought to myself, “I would give away everything I have to live in that place.”

I went down to see the banker, Mr. World, and I told him that I’d like to purchase the lot. It took him a moment to find the deed, and then something really incredible happened. He pulled out the deed and looked at it. Then he looked at me with a curious look on his face. He slid his glasses off the bridge of his nose and said, “It appears Mr. Poor in Spirit, that you already own this piece of property.” 

Flabbergasted, I took the deed from Mr. World’s bony hands and there it was. My name was written in scarlet ink on that precious piece of parchment with a note from quite a long time ago that said, “paid in full.” I was breathless. Who would ever pay such a price for someone else to inherit that rich piece of land on Kingdom Road?

Call me crazy, but even though the land was already in my name I still sold everything I owned, so that I would not have to bear it up to my new land atop Kingdom Road. I sold my Anxiety, my Fear, my Anger, my Shame, and much more all to Mr. World down at the bank. Mr. World looked greedily upon all of my old trinkets  and rushed to sign the paperwork.  Maybe he thought I was taken by a fever to give away all the things that we cling so closely to.  All for that piece of land up on the hill.

But I know that it was the deal of a lifetime.