Everyone loves a treasure hunt! And now there is possibility to find real treasure. A wealthy man named Forrest Fenn, a long time adventurer, survived a battle with cancer at 84 years of age. His new lease on life prompted him to take a million dollars in gold and jewels and hide them in the great outdoors, as a way to get people off their couches and discover wonder in the creation. He loves the beauty of the Western United States and wanted to get people to experience it through the thrill of the chase.
The thrill of the chase
He wrote a poem with nine clues embedded in it and later a book, “The Thrill of the Hunt” which contains a map. As recently as July, 2015 he added another clue while interviewed on the TV show, Sunday Morning. He told viewers it was not hidden in a mine. That would be far too dangerous. The treasure box, which is not locked, lies 5,000 feet above sea level, is not in a graveyard or in Utah or Idaho. Fenn said of the chest’s contents:
“There’s 265 gold coins, eagles and American double eagles, and there’s hundreds and hundreds of gold nuggets. You’re gonna be amazed at what you find.”
The search goes on. After 65,000 emails from treasure hunters, Fenn revealed that a few have been within a tenth of a mile of the treasure.
In his book, Fenn talks about how the most valuable things, the most beautiful things, are not easily found. They’re not just out there; they’re hidden. You have to search for them. They won’t just come to you. You have to go look for them.
The search for happiness
If you ask people what they most want in life they would say, “Happiness; I just want to be happy.”
In fact the Divine Principle opens with the simple statement “Everyone without exception is searching for happiness.”
The happiness that people want is a happiness regardless of outward conditions. That is most definitely the only lasting happiness.
The people searching for Fenn’s treasure have spent hours, days and months pouring over his poem and books looking for clues to help them find the treasure. They have saved their money and used their vacation time to hike into the wilderness, to follow clues. The adventurers that Fenn most appreciates are the ones that search as a family because even if they don’t find the hidden treasure, he knows they will have an incredible experience together that offers them a richness in life they never knew. That last idea caught me. Searching as a family, how beautiful is that?
Getting off the couch
Fenn’s remarkable story reminds us that we too need to get off our couch in search of treasure. Our treasure most likely will not be found watching the latest episode of our favorite mini-series or video game but is hidden between the pages of scripture; some, thousands of year’s old, waiting to be understood and interpreted. The Bible describes the Kingdom of God as a treasure that is hidden in a field.
I thought about this and realized that just because God’s “poem,” riddled with clues has been out there for thousands of years doesn’t mean that you and I have it solved. It’s time to get serious and discover the thrill of the chase.
Unearthing the clues
People have long searched for a way to discover God and the way to find happiness. At the time of Jesus, it was common for rabbis to interpret scripture. Every rabbi had a slightly different interpretation or application for scripture. A rabbi’s interpretation was referred to a rabbi’s yoke. At that time the world was predominately an agricultural society and so people were familiar with the term yoke and understood what a yoke was for. A yoke is a circular harness that is put over an animal’s head and is used to guide the animal where to go as it ploughs a field.
It was not uncommon for a rabbi to say to people, here is my yoke. In other words, here is guidance for your life of faith. Let me steer you. Choose my guidance.
Jesus used this metaphor when he said:
“Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart (I won’t hurt you), and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” – Matthew 11:29-30
I remember, years ago, when I first read this verse, wondering what on earth it meant. It wasn’t until later that I learned about a rabbi’s yoke. We want to discover truth that will guide our lives. This is why Jesus invites people to take his yoke and follow him. He wants us to find the ultimate treasure, our own happiness in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Jesus brought a radical new interpretation to the teachings of his day. His teaching was different from his predecessors. His said that his yoke was light. I thought about the meaning of that and realize Jesus’ yoke is light because he offers true freedom rather than the heavy servitude of sin and he paid a price for our liberty. Thanks to him we have hope to become free.
Jesus’ teachings, like Fenn’s poem, was embedded with clues for the careful reader to discern and interpret. It is such an adventure to discover God within the pages of the Bible or Divine Principle. It’s exciting when the light bulb goes off and you understand something for the first time, for yourself. You own that truth. That’s the thrill of the chase and something worth pursuing.
Finding your treasure
If happiness is the treasure we seek where do we find our happiness? The Divine Principle is like a yoke around the Bible and other sacred texts of the world. It offers guidance and insight. It reveals clues to discover the treasure we are looking for. Rev. Moon was driven by the thrill of the chase to discover God’s heart.
For thousands of years people have wondered what our purpose in life is and why we don’t have the happiness that intuitively we know is our birthright? A clue is hidden right at the beginning of the Bible, in Genesis. The clue is one small sentence that is hidden among so many others, so as to make it invisible when the chapter is read quickly, without enough thought. The meaning can be as elusive as the clues hidden in Fenn’s poem. I read his poem but didn’t really invest enough to see even one clue jump out at me. On-line, you can find which sentences in the poem are thought to be the clues but that doesn’t mean you automatically understand them. Paying attention and investing time is essential to solving the riddle that leads to the treasure.
A simple yoke
God gave us an important clue in Genesis 1:28: “Be fruitful, multiply and have dominion.” One small sentence. Not enough information by itself. That is why the Divine Principle unpacks this one verse to explore it in depth. The whole Divine Principle is an exposition of this simple yoke, which can be understood as “grow to maturity such that your ideals and actions are centered on God (bear fruit), be Blessed in marriage and raise a family and create a society of goodness (multiply); and take care of your environment and love all creation with God’s heart (have dominion.) I think I could find true happiness within such a life.
The essence of the Divine Principle
At Camp Aurora one summer we asked the campers if they had to distill the Divine Principle down to one word what would that word be. The one word had to be able to be applied to every section: God’s ideal for creation; human kind’s separation from God and the ideal; and God and people’s efforts in history to restore what was lost. Much thought went into this. Various words were proposed. The word “love” was of course popular and a definite contender. The final choice was the word relationship. This one word embodies the whole story. The Principle of Creation describes God’s desire for relationship with his children and all the possible relationships between us and God and with each other. It also describes the relationship between the visible world and the invisible spiritual world and how these two worlds interface.
The Fall of Humankind describes the relationships that destroyed the purity of the human heart and put a wedge between us and God. It also describes the distorted relationships of love that are a reflection of the breakdown in the relationship between mind and body.
The third section, the Principles of Restoration, explores the rebuilding of the relationship between God and his children. The Bible is replete with stories of main characters making an offering to God to restore their relationship with him. It goes on to describe step two that involves these main characters resolving the historical relationship between brothers, reversing the pattern of Cain and Abel to establish the foundation for a relationship with the Messiah. Ultimately, all of history is to restore one man and one woman in order to reclaim first love.
The thrill in your chase
God wants an individual relationship with each one of us. Just as he revealed things to Jesus, God will reveal things to you if you are searching desperately enough for them. Then one day an answer comes. You pay attention to the answer because it turns out it responds to a question you asked a long time ago but had forgotten about. It awakens you to the fact that God is indeed alive and speaking.
I found a treasure this week hidden in one of Father Moon’s sermons. It went like this:
“When you die, you have to take three accomplishments with you:
- That you loved God;
- That you loved yourself and worked hard to manifest your essential self;
- That you worked hard to expand the love you share with your spouse and family to the entire world.
This passage reminded me of the three blessings. It felt like a treasure because I was awed at how important it is to love myself and work on myself. God wants me to become something.
A question for you:
What wisdom have you uncovered that you know to be true? It may be the meaning behind a scripture verse. It could be an answer to a prayer – something you wanted to understand about God or your life.
The ultimate treasure
I asked this question to Dr. Tyler Hendricks. I thought I’d ask a theologian. Perhaps he would have some insight into a Biblical passage. He is a man who loves the Bible very much.
His answer surprised me because it had nothing to do with the Bible! But at the same time it had everything to do with the Bible and the Divine Principle. It is like a grand finale of sorts. Dr. Hendricks said:
“My treasure is my wife!”
But being a scholar he couldn’t help but elucidate with scripture. He cited Matthew 19:4-5:
“‘Haven’t you read the Scriptures?” Jesus replied. They record that from the beginning ‘God made them male and female.’ And he said, ‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’”
Dr. Hendricks also sent a beautiful excerpt from one of Rev. Moon’s sermons to explain his conclusion:
“Through true love we can be together eternally, see each other eternally, converse with and feel each other eternally, and have nothing except affection for each other. Immersed in true love, the mere wink of an eye can be sufficient to bring forth a joy so great as to shake heaven and earth; a single smile can make one feel superhuman power.”
His truth and most importantly, God’s truth, is the recovery of true love and honestly speaking there is no greater treasure than that.
Learn more about Fenn’s hidden treasure at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZjwIVzcbjk
