Article October 26, 1929 Issue

Treasure in Heaven

KATE E. ANDREAE

"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth; where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal," said Christ Jesus, remembering that mortals tend to go on building for themselves storehouses and barns wherein to place their accumulations of earthly treasures and gains. So-called treasure gained through selfishness, however, is not real treasure. Its possessor, having gathered together fleeting riches, finds himself burdened with apprehension lest he lose them, lest "thieves break through and steal;" and, surely, the greatest thief of all is fear—fear that one may lose that which he believes is his, his false possessions.

The world is constantly looking for treasure of some kind, for happiness, riches, popularity, fame. It is continually building castles in the air, dreaming of material satisfaction and bliss. Youth starts out along the road of material hopes in quest of success, full of optimistic aspirations; but as long as its plans are built on self-interest, on personal gain alone, the foundation of its storehouse will remain insecure.

There is spiritual treasure to be won and held, however, although the way to find it often leads through what to human sense seems bitter experience; for the human heart clings tenaciously to the material way. The individual is often blind to the necessity of overcoming selfishness if he would find the entrance to the storehouse which is already filled with heavenly riches, "an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." Truly, there is a price to pay for this treasure, the treasure that cannot fade, the joy that does not perish. The price is the yielding up of the false sense of self, the sacrifice of worldly ambitions and aims, leaving all for Christ, Truth. Our beloved Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, writes on page 79 of "Retrospection and Introspection": "Not by the hearing of the ear is spiritual truth learned and loved; nor cometh this apprehension from the experiences of others. We glean spiritual harvests from our own material losses. In this consuming heat false images are effaced from the canvas of mortal mind; and thus does the material pigment beneath fade into invisibility."

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