It sometimes amazes me how I can see something I am familiar with and yet see it in different light depending on where I am on my spiritual journey.
Many years ago I read the book, The Alchemist, by Pablo Coelho. I loved the book and thought it was a wonderful story of how someone searches for a treasure and then finds it in their own backyard. At that level, it was a powerful and entertaining story.
I recently read the book again and the story was like an entirely new story with a whole new meaning. At this point of my life, I could see it was a classic tale of the Hero’s Journey – where the Hero is called to an adventure, and on that journey he/she is tested often, helped by “angels” placed in their path, and an understanding that, because we are consciously connected to the God of our understanding, we find all the signs we need to guide us along our way.
But the new insight I got this time from the book and all Hero’s Journeys is that the treasure is not the “thing” that the hero finds, but how the hero is changed. The true treasure is the change within ourselves.
Our life is not measured by the money we earn, the toys we collect, or the places we have visited. At the end of our life all the things, people, and places remain behind. What we take with us is our consciousness, and what we leave behind is our contribution to making the world a little bit better because we were in it. That is a life well lived.
Quote of the Week
“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” T. S. Eliot
