Look for the Gold!

Many years ago, my Dad gave a talk in church, the message of which has stayed with me ever since. The subject of his talk was "Look for the Gold." He gave an analogy of how miners will dig through several tons of dirt just to find some gold. They aren't looking for the dirt, their attention is fixed on that precious metal. He then asked, "when you look at others, are you looking at their dirt, or do you look for the gold?"

Each of us has a lot of mud and dirt, we are all works in progress, but somewhere down there, we also all have some buried gold. Do we look for that gold in others? Do we recognize the treasure in ourselves? Or do we let the dirt that's in the way distract us from digging down to find it?

A lesson I learned as a missionary is that even the most hardened person has good in them, if you're willing to look deep to find it. Remember that we are dual creatures, with a physical body and a spiritual soul. We sometimes let our worldly desires and wants overshadow and mask the spiritual part of us, but no matter how hard we try and pretend that we're alright, that spiritual side is still there and still hungers for fulfillment. I have been privileged to be able to see people find the gold in themselves many times and be able to find happiness and true contentment. I hope that in all our dealings with others, we work to discover that gold that's in each one of us. No matter how down you may feel, remember that deep down, you're a gold mine!