The treasure that lasts

I’ve got great news for the thousands who every year camp outside the Walmarts of America waiting for the doors of Black Friday to open. There’s an old American proverb (given musical expression in the 1992 movie, "Mo' Money"), that says, "The best things in life are free." If you're over 30 you’ll recall the tune. I submit that the mad rush on the day after Thanksgiving for "stuff" that's not really needed is a poor substitute for all the good things in life that are absolutely free. How many bruises, black eyes, twisted arms and fractured ribs will result from every Black Friday’s stampede for the unnecessary?
       So now you have it in your hands – that remaining desideratum. Sort of a personal reward for swiftness in action, cunning in slipping into the line and sheer bravado in claiming you had it in your grip first. But will it satisfy your deeper need? Now, why did I bring that up? We all have a right to buy whatever we might want. But was it worth it? Took a half hour to get to the store, another about 10 minutes to find a parking space, a 15 minute walk to the entrance, a half hour to get through the door and three more to complete the purchase. Probably could have bought it next week at near the same price, or within a dollar or so.
       Now what was it that the proverb said, "The best things in life are free.” They don't cost anything. We could quickly draw up a list, such as each beat of our heart, every breath we breathe, the amazing eye, songbirds and sunsets – but the first “best thing” that that I’m thinking of is friendship. Just finished writing a dozen or so letters to friends, some of whom go back over fifty years. Met Bob in a registration line in 1947, Ron at a theological seminary in 1952 , Beecher at church in 1953, Dick at WKU in 1967,  Tim a few years as a grad student, another Dick in a Sunday School class in 1989, and both Gary and Ray at a church function about 1993. Wonderful guys! We've worked together, played together, watched our family grow, celebrated life, and more recently touched base with phone calls and get-togethers. No one paid anything for the relationship, apart from genuine concern for the other and integrity in the bond.
       How much more satisfying it is to relax and enjoy all the free things of life than to chase after the unattainable. No chain saw ever hugged a man or a quilt, a woman. Things don't have that ability. We can bestow upon them an odd sort of affection, but that's it, no response. The Christian faith teaches that we were made for relationships. The fact that God is a triune being proves that. Of all my relationships, rewarding as they are, none quite matches knowing God in a personal way. He made it possible. Recently we enjoyed Christmas, which celebrates the incarnation – the gift of God's son Christ Jesus through whose death and resurrection that fellowship is made possible. And imagine this, it's all free! Truly, the best things in life – this life and the one to come -–are free!"