宝

#43 宝: What do you #treasure ? Today is the Festival of the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary and we had a celebratory Eucharist service to mark the occasion this morning. One of the first things we were encouraged to think about was that Mary had “Treasured all of these things (about Jesus’ childhood) in her heart”, and what things do we treasure in our hearts? I have been reflecting today on ‘treasure’ therefore. There are a number of memories that I treasure but I also treasure time with people, the feeling of love, and being loved, experiences of God. I’ve been reading about Church History today and was struck by a particular piece of advice intended for novice monks to “strive to withdraw your heart from the love of visible things, and direct your affections to things invisible”. It is easy to appreciate physical things, but perhaps the real treasure lies in what cannot be seen. This became more apparent as I’ve spent the last hour trying to brush up on my Japanese calligraphy…skills in the arts, music, sports, literacy, (today is #internationalliteracyday2015) etc. are easy to admire but difficult to acquire, and should be treasured rather than forgotten about!! So, what do you treasure in your heart? (at Ripon College Cuddesdon)