A Treasure

I took Asherel and her friend to the flea market Sunday after church. They hurried off happily on their own to prowl through other people's junk. I was not nearly so enamored, but made the best of it. I did laps through all the buildings, zigging and zagging between people at near workout pace. I figured if I walked the full time the girls were there, I could get in my regular walk distance. The vendors watched me do my laps, and I even heard some whisper, "There she goes again." I think I may have brought a little joy in that dismal scene of wanton materialism.

I wonder where all these flea market items come from. Some are obviously garage sale items. But some are brand new and not what one would find at a garage sale. One vendor had a whole table of unopened Prismacolor colored pencils. Those are expensive art pencils normally. I didn't ask the price as I had little money with me anyway, but I wondered where he had gotten them and how would he be able to resell at a profit? Were some of the items at the flea market stolen? I found the whole atmosphere there somewhat depressing, and desperate, until I found 6 little claw hairclips just the comfy well made kind I like, priced at next to nothing. At the stores they are often $10 a piece. I bagged my little prize. Despite my happy purchase, most everything there was used, old, and outmoded. (Ohoh...were my pretty sparkly hair clips outmoded too?) And the place was mobbed with people, poring over the goods. What do they all see in this place? Asherel emerged with a new Beatles bag. She smiled, "It was only $5."
Her friend held out her arm, "See my new bracelet?"

So out of all that dusty, depressing array of junk, we all emerged with a little treasure. That is the allure of those kinds of places, I think. Most of the stuff there is not worth looking at, but tucked in an obscure, hidden corner, there is a small delight seemingly just for us just waiting to be noticed.

I have been thinking a lot about faith and how it transforms a life. I believe it does, but it doesn't do it all at once, and it doesn't remove struggle from life. Faith is sometimes as tiny as that one little hidden sparkle of treasure in the flea market. Sometimes it gets buried by all the worries and concerns and garbage of life. And then when you stumble on that little nugget of faith, you remember the reason you showed up that day in the first place. It makes the trip worthwhile, and you are even glad you came.

Luke 17: 1-6
Jesus said to his disciples: "Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. So watch yourselves.
"If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying 'I repent,' you must forgive them." The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.

-save a dog- hollowcreekfarm.org