Diocesan Secretary, Andy Todd, has written this article on unexpected treasures for December editions of parish magazines.
What things do you most treasure? I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they have little value in financial terms – things like a first painting or drawing brought home from school by a child, a letter from a loved one, or an irreplaceable photograph. Treasure is where your heart is.
The story is told of a prosperous businessman seen hurrying to a butcher’s shop on Christmas Eve during the Depression of the 1930s. ‘Buying your Christmas turkey?’ a friend asked. ‘No, hot dogs,’ answered the businessman. He explained how a bank failure had suddenly wiped out his fortune. He faced Christmas with no money for gifts and less than a pound for food. Next day, he and his wife and small child said grace before dinner and then ate hot dogs – a whole kennel of them, in fact: his wife had given each frankfurter toothpicks for legs and dental floss for tails, ears and hair. Their child was enchanted, and her infectious delight spread merriment among them all. After dinner they gave thanks again for the most loving and festive time they’d ever had. ‘Now it’s tradition,’ the man said. ‘Hot dogs for Christmas – to remind us of that happy day when we realised that we still had one another and our God-given sense of humour.’
Christmas can be many things, but it is certainly an invitation to rediscover the treasure of being really human. What gives life meaning is not the accumulation of ever more material comforts, but a willingness to be open to those around: and that includes - unexpectedly perhaps - the vulnerable and marginalised in our society, not just family and friends. That kind of openness is risky, but our model and inspiration is the God who comes in the form of a defenceless baby. No centre stage, crowds or applause for him. Just a scruffy outhouse and a few oddball visitors. This king, it seems, needs to be looked for in unexpected places; but when anyone welcomes him, and in him all the world's vulnerable and defenceless, they find the greatest treasure of all.
So, look for treasure in unexpected places, and may you find unexpected joys this Advent and Christmas season.
