The Compass and the Treasure

Lately, I have been soaking in the pirate narrative. Every now and then, I come back to tales of swashbucklers because it’s what my life feels like. Thankfully, this time around it’s far less of an obsession, but I did stumble across something that rang deep and true, and I feel like it’s worth sharing. It all revolves around a small trinket that every sailor would be lost without.

This entire year has felt like one big high-seas voyage. Some days have felt like vicious storms, where I can do nothing but grab the mast and hold on for dear life. Other times, the seas have calmed, with life slowing down so much that getting through each day has felt like rowing with no wind in the sails, nor tide to help me along. Still other days have felt just fine. I catch the gentle breeze of a lucky break and ride the momentum for a while as I catch my breath. 

But not a day has gone by where I feel like I have truly found my footing. I always feel like I’m at least a bit wibbly-wobbly amidst the ever-shifting waves of life. Every time I feel like I’m starting to get into a rhythm, something changes and I feel thrown off again. I can’t deny that it has brought me great growth and deep healing. I’d be a fool to deny the fruit it has produced. I have been learning how to get used to the changes, accepting new things with courage and confidence. 

All the same, however, my heart has a current, just like that of a tide. It always flows back towards familiarity, towards routine, towards tranquility. With each trial, I get better at ignoring it, but I can’t deny the ache in my bones. The longing for land, a land to call my permanent home. I know that, as a Christian, I’m supposed to shamelessly plug heaven in here, but I can’t. It’s not natural. Perhaps it never will be. I don’t know if that’s the right answer. But what I do know is how to use my compass. Every sailor has one, and so do I. The weird thing was that this isn’t a new gift that I have suddenly discovered. No, it has been with me for years. In fact, it has been a cornerstone of my writing, including this very blog! I sat down the other day, and it hit me in the face:

May Peace be your Guide.

I write those words so very often, but rarely stop to reflect upon them. How important it is to ask yourself where you are in relation to peace. To make decisions based on what brings harmony to your spirit deep inside. That’s your compass. It’s a true north worth setting. Not a lust for gold that doesn’t belong to me, but a sense of comfort deep within. That feeling you get when your conscience is clear, and you somehow know that you’ve made the right decision. Though I can’t quite describe it, I have always been able to find that inner peace of knowing I am walking the right path. It’s always there, refreshing me like a breath of fresh air. 

That’s not to say that this true north is always comfortable, pleasant, or even fun. There are times when I know what the right choice is, but it’s not one I would prefer to make. Kind of like when I got accepted to my college of choice. No doubt, I was excited to get into my first-pick school, but I knew that the transition would be rough all the same. It wouldn’t always be fun and games. It wouldn’t always be sunshine and rainbows. But it was the right choice, and I knew it was where I was supposed to be all the same. That’s inner peace. 

My other pirate thought is that of treasure. It has its place in the life of every man seeking to truly live during their time on this earth. Some fear thoughts of silver and gold because they fear they might become greedy. They’re scared to admit to the things they really want because they’re scared that wanting it makes them evil. But no goal is truly evil, in and of itself. It’s just a matter of how we chase it. Heck, even money can be used for good things if we’re responsible with it. 

For too long, I have denied my own lust for treasure. Those things I truly want to have in my life, want to see enter my hands before I die. I have treated my own desires like sins to be punished for. Or, at the very least, desires to be controlled. But lately, I have been asking myself: what if I’m feeling so unfulfilled because I’ve been ignoring those things? What if a lust for treasure is what makes life truly worth living? 

I know that sounds like playing with fire, but I disagree. It’s the obsession over something that makes it wrong. It’s when you’re willing to cross some bad lines to get that thing that it becomes a problem. No one would blame a man for eating when he’s hungry. But imagine a fat dude who wolfs down thirty big macs at McDonald’s, then steals your chicken nuggets that you spent the last three dollars to your name to get. That be the markings of a filthy landlubber, if e’er I saw one! If you’re able to control your desires and do good for others with them, then I say chase those treasures! What better way is there to truly live?

Think about this one too: can you imagine the feeling of finally finding buried treasure? What it must be like to finally find something that has been hidden, intentionally made difficult to find. That would be a pretty cool feeling! What if that’s part of what we’re after? Sure, we can’t chase something that doesn’t mean anything to us, but what if the true joy is finding something valuable that we think we couldn’t have? Think about that for a second.

On top of that, I think there are some treasures that are worth having. Heck, I think most treasures are worth having if we don’t abuse them. Think of all the good you could do with a million dollars. You could build a hospital, donate it to help our troops, or even give it to a homeless man and get him off the street. Every treasure to discover, every dream to be dreamt is like that. It isn’t good or evil on its own. It’s all about how you use it. 

If something came to mind as you read my words about treasure, make today the day that you stop doubting. Even if you don’t believe you’ll ever truly find it, set sail anyway! What better way to live than to chase that treasure with everything you have? I’ll tell you right now: there is none! Your adventure may seem perilous at times. You may be tempted to turn back, claiming life was better on the shore where it was safe. But rest assured, the ache will find you. It’s in every man, woman, even child, who dares ignore the call. Some will live their whole lives with the ache, as I once did. Some will find themselves lost at sea. But the only one who is truly lost is he who tries to live with the burden of never daring to find out if the treasure could have been theirs. Truly lost is the one who never dares to set sail on the open seas. 

Now I can’t help but wonder: how do these two ideas combine? Can you chase your dreams and inner peace at the same time? I’m actually inclined to say yes. But I want to go to bed now, so I’ll answer this question another time.  

Alright, I’m back. It’s been a few days and I want to try to articulate these ideas. Let’s talk a little bit more about inner peace. Inner peace is not a surface-level feeling. It’s not just the comfort of the things you like. It’s feeling like a puzzle piece that has finally found where it’s supposed to click into place in the grand scheme of things. It’s where we’re meant to be in the world. Sometimes that can be a difficult spot to be in. Especially when it means you can’t run away from hard things, using the excuse that it simply wasn’t meant to be. It’s sticking it out because you are planted in the world you live in. That can be tough sometimes. 

Here’s my example: my job. I’m convinced that I’m in the field that I was meant to be in. That makes it hard sometimes, because I can’t just abandon my post when something more fun or convenient blows my way. I have taken pay cuts and given up on better short-term opportunities because I have long-term goals that I want to follow. I have stuck it out through some worse situations in the name of long-term stability and success. It sucks sometimes, to the point where I wish I could just give up. But if I were to quit, I would be uneasy. Something would feel wrong and I would eventually be miserable. 

In my life, those long-term goals are a kind of treasure. Getting to those places will be deeply rewarding, and that sense of peace tells me that I’m on the right track. It kind of reminds me of Hebrews 12:2, which says that Jesus endured the cross for the “joy set before Him.” For the treasure, The Cap’n went to those dark, terrible places. Having purpose, He toughed it out, and if we focus on the treasure and the peace that guides us, we can tough it out too. 

So go venture out on the high seas! Grab your compass, find a ship and gather your crew to go search for the greatest buried treasure ever lost to man. And along the way, you may even learn a thing or two about yourself.

Until Next Time

May Peace be your Guide.