Treasure Bearers

In her book, Dakota, Kathleen Norris sees each of us as a
"treasure-bearer, carrying our souls like a great blessing through the world."  Sometimes I don't feel like a treasure bearer. We have all had those days...or weeks...or months...when life seems to be more of a burden than a blessing. Some of us have lives where we can hole up in our home or office or cubicle, put on our earphones, and make the world go away. Some of us find ourselves in situations where we must deal with people all day and be on our best behavior...or as best as we can manage. Some of us have occupations where we work alone and feel alone and wish for others to invade our work space. Whatever our curcumstance, we sometimes forget about being treasure bearers and instead our goodness seems like buried treasure.

A great many of us look forward to the opening ceremonies of the Olympics as we follow the journey of the torch bearers carrying the Olympic flame into the stadium. The flame is ignited at the site of the ancient Olympic games in Greece months before the games are scheduled to begin. As the games draw near, a series of runners carries the fire from Greece to the site that will host the games. The gathered crowd cheers wildly as the torch bearer enters the stadium and ignites the flame that will remain a symbol of the goodwill of the Olympics. There it will burn day and night until the games are over.

Most of us will never carry the Olympic torch to its destination but we can all be bearers of the flame of goodwill as we travel through our lives. We are each born with the light of love and goodness. We come into the world perfect and whole with the treasure of life glowing out of every pore. Sometimes the storms of day to day living threaten to extinguish our light and tarnish  our treasure. How fortunate we are that we have a big world in which to shine - and that truly needs our light - if we will only do so.

The Olympic torch bearers do not have to carry the flame the entire way on their own. Many runners work together to carry the torch the distance. Some of the runners run very short distances, some longer. Some are on foot, some in wheelchairs, some in vehicles. What they all share is their commitment to seeing that the flame stays strong as it travels through the world.


At the beginning of this new year, let us make a commitment to our fellow earth travelers to support each other along the way. Let us strive to make sure that the divine spark that each of us carries within is nurtured and supported so that the treasure we each have to give will flourish until it is ready to be bestowed as a gift to the greater world.