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Do You Have a Treasure? By Jennifer Swenson I had viewed it as ordinary and unremarkable, but this experience showed me what a priceless gift I have.
s celebrities, they're pretty unlikely. They dress in conservative suits and talk of arcane subjects. Yet for six years they have enticed hundreds of thousands of average people all across the United States to stand in line for hours for the opportunity to share their stories of family heirlooms, garage sale finds and genuine "Tiffany" lamps. They're the expert appraisers from the PBS series Antiques Roadshow. If you're hooked on the show, as I am, you identify with the optimistic people who bring paintings purchased for a reluctant 50 cents at yard sales, hoping the appraisers will reveal they are actually museum-quality masterpieces. Most people discover that their junk is just junk. Some even find that items they had thought were valuable are only imitations. But every week, someone brings in a toy, or a vase or a lunch box that they've taken for granted for years, only to discover that at auction they could expect to sell the item for thousands of dollars to a collector. If you watch the show, you'll see owners suddenly transformed, from stoic narrators to crying, laughing, jumping, overwhelmed jackpot winners. They're the same people. They have the same job, the same family and the same possessions. But suddenly, they look at everything differently. Especially their "treasure." In a few moments, what had been considered an out-of-date relic, previously relegated to the basement, becomes a cherished possession. The item was always the same. The only difference was that someone finally helped them understand its true value. If you're like me, you find it easy to take your treasures for granted too. Take prayer, for instance. The opportunity to have a private audience with our Creator and Ruler--at any time we choose--can seem like an unremarkable occurrence, since it occurs every day. Sometimes it takes something a little unusual to reveal the value in that contact with God. God cares about the little things I'm ashamed to admit that before praying, I sometimes screen out items that I assume are too insignificant. Especially in the wake of current events, I sometimes think, "With all the suffering in the world, unrest in the Middle East, war in Afghanistan, how can I bother God with my little hopes and concerns?"
Recently, however, I had one of those little experiences that brought the point home, almost like an appraiser showing me the value and purpose of sharing details of life with our Father. It seemed to offer me the permission to "beat my prayers fine." I was praying about relationships: family situations, people I had drifted away from, even a church member I hadn't liked for a long time. First, I asked for God's help in gathering my busy family for some "quality" time together. School, college, work, computers and television...so many factors usually stand in the way of deep family conversations. I really longed for the closeness of a long chat. The very next day our family was home together. A mild windstorm caused a localized power outage. And for one wonderful afternoon, my teenaged kids snuggled under a quilt with me and giggled as they had when they were little!
Finally, I asked God's blessing on the "prickly" church member. Don't get me wrong. I had prayed for him many times. But this time, I didn't ask God to help him see the error of his ways. I just asked God to bless him abundantly. Within weeks, we shared a conversation that was warmer than any we had had for many years. These three prayers--all uttered the same day--were simple and unremarkable. What was remarkable was the rapid response, a little reminder from God that He hears and answers even the smallest prayers. As if I'd had a visit from the Antiques Roadshow, suddenly, I saw many material things that had been consuming my time were simply fakes. Even more important, prayer was transformed from the ordinary into the treasure it truly is. Copyright 2002 by United Church of God, an International Association All rights reserved. |
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