By: Laura Lee Cochran 2024
I possess a great treasure within my chest. Though now, after hiding it for so long, I’ve forgotten what it is. It lays behind a door with a single keyhole, boarded up with old planks of wood.
I do recall this wasn’t always how it was. In my youth my treasure sat openly on display. There was no curtain or door to hide it, it was captivating and desired to be seen. It shined brightly, letting everyone near know I had something great. A treasure I quite enjoyed having.
However, I soon realized not everyone saw the beauty in my treasure. Or perhaps they did, they just didn’t know how to care for it or perhaps didn’t care to. Greedy hands would reach into my chest, rummaging around trying to take what wasn’t theirs. They bruised and beat my treasure with apathy and displeasure. For they always left empty handed. Yet, it was my treasure that truly suffered.
In fear, I hid my treasure behind a door. Though, I still desired for others to see my treasure, so I made sure to include a keyhole for someone I trusted in the future. However, even then, plenty of of hands pushed their rusty keys into my keyhole, seeking to puncture what wasn’t theirs.In their rush, they chipped my keyhole and left fragments within the door to latch on my treasure.
Finally, I decided my treasure had to be fully hidden in order for its utmost protection. With time I began to resent the treasure I so adored. It caused me more harm than good and became a nuisance. I soon carried on life, with door and boarded up keyhole, forgetting of what lay inside.
One day, I sat in the ground as a man approached me. He took a strong look at me, and then his eyes fell to my boarded up treasure.
“What are you doing”
I laughed. Why did he want to know?
“I am only sitting.” I responded.
A slight laugh left him. “No no, not that. What are you hiding?”
“It’s nothing, trust me” I responded, covering my chest with my hand.
He smiled sadly and crouched down to me. He pointed at the boards and moved his finger to them. “may I?”
I panicked and raised my hand to block him.
“No! Every time I open it up it hurts. What makes you any different than everyone before?”
He tilted his head and looks at me with love in his eyes, “because I am the one who created that treasure inside you. And I’d very much like to see it.”
I looked at him and then my boarded up chest. Reluctantly, I took the boards off of my revealing the keyhole that lead to my treasure. I watched as he dropped his hand to his pocket and brought out a key adorned in red rubies, shining an amber glow.
“May I?”
I nodded slightly.
I watched as he raised his key to my chest and turned it gently, opening the treasure within me. His hands cupped to bring out my treasure into the light, showing a bruised and beaten heart, covered in thorns and a black sludge.
“Ah, my treasure”
The man then began to rid my treasure from its thorns, black sludge, and even the bruises. It began to glow white as the man brought it to his lips for a kiss. “So pure” he smiled. He gently brought it back to my chest, laying it within, took down the walls around it, and left it it open again. I looked down, my treasure shining brighter than it ever had before and then back to him. “Why are you different?”
“Because I am the good shepherd that lays down his life for his sheep. I am the way the truth and the life. I am the I am. And I am your savior” A tear rolled down my face as he led me to stand. “Now that I’ve saved you, will you follow me?”
A smile formed on my face, “Anywhere,” I say. “Why would I be anywhere that you are not?”
He smiled wide and grabbed my hand.
“Then let’s go.”