We are often encouraged to follow our hearts, yet charities request our money for very important causes and volunteers beg for our help to bolster their ranks. How do we get the important work done, when some roles are simply just not so flashy? Who would follow that modest path in a time when the flashiest flaunt the greatest fanfare and financial rewards?
Jeremiah warns us that the heart is deceitful, and that we should beware of its desires. Do we follow our hearts, or do we overrule it for something else, something higher? Here we might glimpse the different levels of human development, meeting and jousting on an inner front-line of maturity. Haven’t we all looked back on our past desires from a wiser perspective, and marveled with a hard-won sense of superiority, or even just humility?
The heart of a fool is naturally inclined to the habit of seeking foolish things. Christ reminds us that the treasures of the earth can be destroyed by moth or vermin, or that thieves can steal them. Yet, aren’t the wise more often seeking treasures that are stored in the Heavens? Surely the value of both kinds of treasure can be understood with growth, otherwise would Christ have bothered trying to explain the difference to us?
As a heart matures, and our perspective widens to behold where value is truly held, we understand praying in secret and letting our right hand not be too concerned by what our left hand is doing. The things we do are not for status amongst those still seeking glory in the world, or rank among those hungry for the things of the world. Rather, if there is a need, then we can commit effort to that goal, and entrust the impact of these actions to refining the equation of God’s calculations.
To have treasures in heaven, may mean we personally hold no claim to them. Perhaps, just as the saints have little ego and live with a childlike reverence for the glory of God, they also may not bother with pride in glamourizing their steps for higher realms. Rather, for the betterment of the unity we form within the gaze of heaven, their efforts are dedicated selflessly. Heaven surely should not be corrupt, as the world is. If it were, where would we turn for inspiration, and who could we ask to review our lives above the hard times? Perhaps rather than hoarding excess there, we may become satisfied in knowing that we too had a hand in the refinement of God’s constructions for future times.
We all have an innate and healthy desire to feel valued and important amongst our peers. Our challenge is to inspire each other to put personal pride aside. Then we can celebrate our achievements in the progress we make, even if that work may not always be fashionable or cosmetic. In the humble progress of everyday heroes, we hear echoes of John F. Kennedy’s stirring words, “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country”. Perhaps we can consider not what we can manifest from Heaven’s abundance for ourselves today, but rather, where we can bestow our own contribution toward refining Heaven’s grand scene by our own humble efforts in the world today.
(Kind thanks to my brother for recommending The New Man, by Maurice Nicoll)
DJ Shadow – Organ Donor
The Saints – Know Your Product
Paul Kelly – From Little Things Big Things Grow
Tristan James Johns 