On Friday afternoon I heard a story retold to me and I wonder if you have heard it before. . .
The story is about the golden buddha.
In Thailand there was once a small village that was home to the golden buddha. It was a famous statue. People came from all around to marvel at it. They came to pray before it an. The local residents were proud of it and felt blessed by the visitors who came to their small village. But, as happens sometimes, invaders from another land threatened the country. They were coming. War was inevitable and the villagers were anxious.
They were anxious because they worried that the invaders would destroy and carry off the buddha which was made of gold. The treasurer would be lost.
So a local citizen came up with an idea: let’s hide it! They agreed to pack mud and stones on the golden buddha. They would hide it in plain sight from the invaders. The whole community gathered together and worked to pack mud and rocks onto the buddha until it looked like every other buddha in the country. Satisfied they returned to their homes to wait. . . The invasion continued. The village was overrun.
When the army walked past the buddha they noticed it. They noticed its size and its location in the center of the town. But other than that, it was not special—in their eyes. So they left and moved on. Years past and the buddha stayed hidden safely under the mud and rocks. It stayed that way until everyone forgot that they had a golden buddha sitting before them. . . no one remembered that which was special.
One day a monk sat down next to the ‘ordinary’ buddha to pray. As he stood to leave his hand slipped and chipped off some of the mud revealing the gold that was underneath! He ran around the village shouting that the buddha was made of gold. The townspeople gathered around the buddha shocked at what he was saying. When the villagers gathered around the buddha, they saw a little bit of yellowish-gold shinning and they wondered what lived beneath the veil of mud and clay? So, they got to work, scraping and cleaning the buddha until they gold was unmasked.
What was beautiful sat right before their eyes. . . if they had the vision to see it.
This story made me wonder about the light of Christ that shines inside of us? We know that each of us is made in the image and likeness of God, but can we see that light in each other? The more that I thought the more I wondered where are the places, or the times, that we cover the wonderful light of Jesus that lives in us with our own mud and clay? We may have hidden the light of God because it was necessary. . . We were wounded and needed time to rest. But in the act of covering the light that lives in us, did we forget how special, how beautiful, how fearfully and wonderfully we were made?
I hope that as Lent begins again this week, you will remember the beauty of God that lives in you. It is a beauty and a light that caused Jesus to willingly suffer for you. It is a light that shines in the darkness. . .
Blessings
Rev. Derek
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