Yes, gold. Once again, they're finding gold in California. Maybe not enough for the known world to begin migrating west, as it did 150+ years ago. But enough to ignite fresh enthusiasm for gold hunters. It's also started me thinking: that gold has been there all along, hidden out of sight. All it needed was some large-scale adversity to expose it. Difficulty. Drought. Lack.
Interesting. How many areas in our own lives have hidden pockets of gold--wealth of character, stamina, wisdom, kindness--that we have not known of until adversity comes? And furthermore--it is not the rich areas which are revealing their hidden treasures. It's the weak ones. Picked over. Ones we've written off as hopeless or helpless.
Which has me thinking--what if I looked at the areas in my life that are not so amazing, be they circumstances, relationships, character "flaws"--looked at them not as areas of lack, but with the understanding that somewhere beneath their everyday appearance of emptiness or drought, I might find gold.
Or peacocks.
Peacocks? Yes, random. But sort of related. Because one day this week I went to ride my horse. No gold or unexpected riches there--just horses and hay and everyday. Until I walked around a corner and saw a sight so rare and so exotic as to call to mind king's palaces and the wealth of by-gone days.And so--whether we find gold or peacocks or some other unexpected beauty--I'm wondering what we each would discover if we went looking for those riches in our weaker places...