Finding the Pearl of Great Price – During this Christmas of the Coronavirus
In St. Matthew’s Gospel (13:45-46), Christ says, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.” That’s how much the Kingdom of Heaven is worth. It is paradise everlasting. It means everything!
Sadly, but not surprisingly, some people may reject the pearl outright, debasing its value, or believing it’s not worth the sacrifice. In St. Matthew 7:6, Christ warns us that when we try to offer the “pearls” of the Kingdom to others, some of them may want to trample on them, and even attack us.
Yet still others may not understand what the pearl of great price is. During last year’s Bible Study, we read in St. Luke’s Gospel (8:10) how Christ lamented about people who were not open to the mysteries of God: “Seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.” In other words, when presented with something of great truth and value, some may not understand – nor wish to understand – the deeper meaning and worth.
To appreciate beauty, goodness, and truth, we must be open to the universe as it really is, including the forces of evil. How? By being observant, by noticing the consequences of our choices, by thorough self-examination, and by sincerely seeking God and being open to receiving His blessings.
Given the coronavirus health threat, the lockdown restrictions, the civil unrest, the economic free fall, and the deep political divisions, what can we do? We’re trying to cope the best we can; to care for our families and each other, and to do our part to help get our world back to “normal.” Yet, it’s hard! Especially when the authorities limit employment, our family gatherings, and our Church attendance.
Though there are a lot of negatives, we can also see the unexpected blessings of the pandemic if we look purposefully: less hustle and bustle (if working from home); more time to catch up on things we’ve been putting off; more time for ourselves; and more “together time” with our families.
This is a good time to regain our spiritual senses and remove ourselves from one-sided and gloomy subjects. We can lessen our time on the internet “grid,” and limit our exposure to the news. Then we can better focus on our relationships, loving and listening to each other – forgiving each other. We can sing Christmas carols, watch good movies, read the Bible and other good books, pray – and attend church if possible.
Yet we live in troubled times. In addition to the pandemic, the spirit of the times, the “zeitgeist,” is very divisive and debasing of Christian morals. People cling to many false pearls, and pearls of far lesser value, thinking that’s all they need. And when the time comes to “cash them in,” they earn a poor return on investment. Thus is ever the way “with those who store up treasures for themselves [here on earth] but are not rich toward God” (St. Luke 12:21).
Last week, the movie Anna Karenina aired on TCM – the 1935 classic starring Greta Garbo and based on Leo Tolstoy’s serially released book of 1873-1877. In the book, Tolstoy describes the mood of the late 1800s, of people fed up with old manners and morals, surrounded as they were by conveniences, yet wanting change, nonetheless. It’s as if Tolstoy could foresee the coming devastation of the communist revolution.
Here is a description of Anna Karenina’s philandering brother in chapter 3:
[Prince] Stepan [Stiva] Arkadyevich [Oblonsky] took in and read a liberal paper, not an extreme one, but one advocating the views held by the majority. And in spite of the fact that science, art and politics had no special interest for him, he firmly held those views on all these subjects which were held by the majority and by his paper, and he only changed them when the majority changed them – or, more strictly speaking, he did not change them, but they imperceptibly changed of themselves within him.
Stepan Arkadyevich had not chosen his political opinions or his views – these political opinions and views had come to him of themselves – just as he did not choose the shapes of his hat and coat, but simply accepted those that were being worn… The liberal party said that in Russia everything was wrong... The liberal party said that marriage was an institution quite out of date, and that it stood in need of reconstruction… The liberal party said, or rather allowed it to be understood, that religion was only a curb to keep in check the barbarous classes of the people, and indeed Stepan Arkadyevich could not stand through even a short service without his legs aching, and could never make out what was the object of all the terrible and high-flown language about another world when life might be so very amusing in this world… [H]e liked his newspaper, as he did his cigar after dinner, for the slight fog it diffused in his brain. He read the leading article, which maintained… “in our opinion the danger lies not in that imaginary revolutionary hydra, but in the obstinacy of traditionalism clogging progress,” etc., etc.
We all know what happened to Russia a few decades later – in the early 1900s. May we not be overcome by a soft totalitarianism.* May our only progress be toward the Kingdom of Heaven. With faith and hope, may we hold onto the pearl of great price, and celebrate Christmas well, even during this time of the coronavirus.
During our last Bible study, we read the Apostle John’s vision in Revelation (21:21), of the Holy City coming down from Heaven for all the faithful: “The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.”
* For cultural analysis, see the book Live Not By Lies by Rod Dreher.