Lenten Devotional: Treasured Things
This Lenten season, let us answer the call to slow down, dwell in stillness, breathe deeply in the silence so we might listen and hear what God is whispering into our hearts.
Treasured Things
One of my favorite lines in scripture appears twice in the second chapter of the Gospel of Luke. The first time it appears, is after the shepherds have come to visit the baby Messiah, Mary and Joseph and tell of the wonderful things they had heard of the child. After this, the text reads “But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2:19) The next time Scripture states of Mary treasuring things in her heart is after she could not find the young boy Jesus, when he was in the temple (Luke 2:46-51). I can only imagine Mary’s absolute terror at not knowing where her beloved son is. The text tells us that after they discover him and reveal how worried they were, Jesus “was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart.”
I love that this line is used not once, but twice in the same chapter and it points to the utter love, hope, and concern Mary has for Jesus. I look at Mary and see a human many of us can relate to—proud and relieved, treasuring big and seemingly small things in our hearts and carrying them with us as sustenance for the journey of life. I wonder if these are moments that helped sustain Mary when she eventually stood as a grief-stricken mother at the foot of the cross, heartbroken, scared, and hurting for her beloved son.
I believe we are invited to pay attention to the big, in your face holy moments, and to the seemingly small but ever so sacred moments that this life has to offer. We should savor them and treasure them in our hearts, so that we remember Love is everlasting and God is ever present. Let us take some time this week to open ourselves up to the sacred happening all around us and treasure it in our hearts.
—Margaret Fleming
About the author
Margaret Fleming has been a member of Second Presbyterian Church since 2017. A native of Mt. Pleasant, she found herself back home after graduating from Columbia Theological Seminary in May 2020. She resides in Mt. Pleasant with her husband Will, a fourth-year medical student at MUSC. She is a candidate for ordination in the PCUSA and is currently serving as a Chaplain Resident at Roper Hospital.