My mother gives me many book suggestions. The most recent one was "The Hidden Treasure of Glaston" by Eleanore M. Jewett, a Newbery honor book about a boy who gets left at the Glastonbury Monastery. While there, he makes friends, learns the value of seeking, and the reward that comes when a person gives up everything.
Hugh is left in the care of the monks by this father who is ashamed of him and running for his life. To pay, he leaves a fortune of books. These gifts introduce Hugh to Brother John who teaches him how to care for parchment, make ink, and clean old pages so they can be reused. They both enjoy books and the stories they contain, and Brother John shows Hugh an old broken manuscript with stories of the Holy Grail, but forbids him from speaking lightly about such a holy matter.
Hugh meets another boy at the monastery and a hermit who lives nearby. Each using their unique gifts they search for the hidden treasure, finding both more than they realize and less than they hope. Woven into the story is the Benedictine manner of life and emphasis on giving everything, not owning anything. Hugh, in his conscience knows and understands this, but he learns how much he has to give even when he feels he has nothing.
The idea of builders and givers being the ones who preserve the world and receive God's blessing is very beautiful. Brother John says of the hermit, he did not find because he sought, but because he gave all. I was reminded of the Lord's Prayer (Thy will be done), Mary's confession (May it be to me as You have said), and Jesus's words prior to the cross (Not my will, but Thine). It is only when we give everything, that we can truly receive God's blessings. With that perspective, life is joy to us, even in devastation and brokenness.
This story shows the adventure of seeking, pain of loss, and the joy of having given all in a way that inspires me to keep looking for God's beauty in our broken world. It also reminds me that I am only beginning understand the mysteries of God's redeeming sacrifice and what it means to be made like him.
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