Jewels in the Field: A Modern Parable
“The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field.” Matthew 13:44
Once there was a farmer who was told that there were jewels hidden in his field.
“Wife,” he said, “we must turn over every inch of that field. It could make us very rich.”
His wife said nothing but she knew the crops were almost ready for harvesting and they were going to have a bumper crop.
“It could make us very rich,” he said. It was all that he could talk about for days.
And so he began to dig, turning over the new seedlings as he went.
“May you find what you are looking for,” said his wife.
**
The first day he found a box his son had buried many years ago.
“It just contained a packet of some old seeds,” he said, but she put them in a kitchen drawer.
“May you find what you are looking for,” she said.
Not to be undone, he kept going, and the next day he found a well-loved baby doll that had been lost by his daughter when she was a child.
“A stupid baby doll,” he said.
“May you find what you are looking for,” she said, and she put the doll in a chest.
But he was determined and he kept digging.
The third day he found a torn piece of a letter his wife had sent him many years before. He threw it aside in anger, and he kept plowing.
“May you find what you are looking for,” said his wife, as she handed him a drink.
The fourth day all he found was a soiled photo of his neighbor and his neighbor’s son, standing together. He crumpled it up with disdain.
“Wife, he said, I must go away for there are no jewels to be had here.”
**
“Bless your son who saved these seeds,” she said, “for we will plant again.
Bless your daughter who learned to love so well, for she will water the plants.
Bless your good neighbor who is reconciled with his family for he will lend me tools for the harvesting.
Bless the letter I wrote you, for it still speaks of love that bound us together.”
And as she watched him leave, she blessed him one last time.
“May you find what you are looking for, she said.”
© Linda Beatrice Brown
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