All the Gold in the Hills

Many years ago, in a prehistoric town,* a group of gypsies arrived dragging two metal object behind them on a long rope. As they drug them down the streets of the town, the metal pots and pans were flying off the shelfs and clinging onto the ingots. Nails were pulling out of the doorposts and clumping onto their surfaces. Jose Arcadio Beuendia, the mayor, seeing this strange display of magic, had an idea. He sold all his possessions and bought the ingots from the gypsies. His wife, Ursula, was aghast that he would dispose of all their wealth to buy these ingots. But the mayor said, “Relax! I have a plan. We are going to be richer than any other man in all the earth. I am going to take these ingots and drag them through the mountains. We will suck all the gold out of the hills! We will be richer than anyone can ever imagine.” 


Now, of course, there was one major flaw with this plan that I am sure you noticed. But did you happen to notice an even deeper tragedy? He really was in possession of something that was of far greater value than all the gold in all the hills. With those magnets and a piece of copper wire, he could have generated electricity! And electricity is worth more than all the gold in the world. If he had discovered how to generate electricity, he could have changed the world. But instead he had to settle for a broken dream -- and a very unhappy wife! What a great tragedy.


It is not a great leap to jump from the misfortune of Jose Arcadio Beuendia to that of the rich young ruler in Mark 10: 17-22. This passionate young man asks what he needs to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus looks at him and loves him. He helpfully tells him exactly how he can go about it. “Go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Those simple directions would have given him the overwhelming benefit of treasures in heaven. But apparently that did not fit into his self-centered lifestyle. He turned and went away sorrowful. How sad. How small-minded. And yet, how many people each day walk away from the equally thrilling promise given in John 1:12. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. That must rank as even a greater honor than being named Jose Arcadio Beuendia, the Discoverer of Electricity! It is hard to believe that anyone could turn and sorrowfully walk away from that.


* The history of this town is covered in exquisite detail in the book One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez