(Opening the Door to the True Life)
STORY TIME
STORY TIME
Once upon a time an adventurer, following the directions on an old map, after much travail and many trials, discovered a treasure chest. However, on opening the chest he found nothing in it. No treasure. Nothing. Nada. The chest was empty. He couldn't understand why this was so. The map directions had proven valid thus far and there was definitely no evidence of anyone else having gotten to the chest before him. The treasure had to be there. Yet it was not. Somehow, he suspected, he was missing a vital clue. Over and over he read through the directions on the map. Again and again he read the final words, "The treasure is in the chest . . The treasure is in the chest . . . The treasure is . . ."
At last he realized his mistake. He had interpreted the words wrongly all along. Ah...ah! The subtlety of it all. The treasure wasn't IN the chest. It was IN THE CHEST! The chest itself was of solid gold, covered over by cracked and peeling paint and a thick layer of centuries-old dust. By looking past its outer appearance, by looking past the logical assumption, he found the treasure.
The Kingdom of God is the gold and the Real You, your True Self, is the chest. The Kingdom is in the Real You. Find the Real You and you will find the treasure which is the Kingdom. Waking up to the Real You is the journey. The journey takes you through the deserts and swamps and jungles of life in the Fallen World. Don't give up and do not allow yourself to be distracted. Remember Christian in Pilgrim's Progress? Do not be fooled by what the Fallen World calls "the necessities of life", the so-called "logical" goals of "security" or "shelter", materialistic guarantees of peace and happiness. Above all don't seek the treasure in some thing or some program. It cannot be found outside of your True Self. You need to find YOU. When you do you will find the Kingdom . . . and the Treasure.
A little clue: The you that seeks true peace and true happiness is the you that, at this very moment, is still in bondage to all kinds of suffering as well as to the many forms of peace and happiness which depend on the whims of daily life and the changing nature of society in the Fallen World. The Real You lives primarily in a different world.
There is a Door to that world. Unlike a door in the everyday world, that Door is a person. If you walk through that Door you will be changed forever. I said "if" because you may desire a door which suits you rather than the Door you find revealed to you or, like so many armchair travelers, you may choose to enjoy the adventures of others whilst holding on to the securities of your nine-to-five kingdom. It's your choice. Just remember: the chains of one's choosing are usually golden chains, golden in the Fallen World but considered fool's gold in the True World. Choose wisely.