Treasure Among Shekels

CHAPTER 1

     It was once said that we can know food exists because we all experience hunger. How else could a man recognize its absence if it had never existed in the first place? Or how could an orphan miss his mother, if his mother died at birth? Similarly, if a man had the unquenchable longing for a home beyond this home on earth, namely heaven, a sort of nation where our intrinsic feeling that we don't belong, or our insatiable thirst for authentic joy are truly and wholly met by the love and peace of its Divine King, could it not be said then that heaven too, must exist?

     What about the dream of finding hidden treasure? Explorers sail the seven seas fighting pirates to find the place on their brown papyrus where "X marks the spot". It's been the plot of story after story, ever since I can imagine. Does this treasure not exist though one doesn’t find it? Not every explorer succeeds in his journey, but surely that does not falsify the possible existence of the treasure. Perhaps, the unsuccessful journeyman went looking for the wrong thing? Perhaps, the explorer found his treasure, yet still felt a longing for something more?

     This story is not like any other treasure hunting story, but in other ways exactly like them. This is not simply the story of a young man who found treasure waiting for him buried in a field, but more like the story of a treasure that found a young boy and the young boy’s experience of true joy and contentment.

     The year was too long ago for me to remember the date, but not so long ago that I can't recall the important details. Nobody who was there could forget this story, and it's been passed down from generation to generation ever since.

     The town Shepherd lived in was one of political unrest. Like a battle of the clans, the parties made their cause known through flags, clothes, public showings, and well... I guess you could call them parades. The latter, were processionals of town folk, usually from the same neighborhoods, who supported their particular party. They would walk down the streets of the opposing neighborhoods with flags of their so-called clan, wearing matching hats, holding signs, and chanting together slogans and cheers. The Liberals lived in the center of the nearby city and strategically found themselves both inside and outside the city protesting unjust social norms, chanting for change. Their leader was Bow and her symbol was the Lotus flower. Bow was a woman of pride and cunningness, but nevertheless true prowess. These traits were coupled with a picture perfect smile, political correctness, and overall public politeness. If she were transparent she'd be a great leader, but nobody could see through her facade of pleasantries and frankly, were scared of what was underneath the mask.

     The Conservatives used to hold significance in the center city along with the Liberals, but as of late had diverged into two groups: the Fundamentalists and the Neo-Conservatives, also known as, the Idealist party. Teddy led the Fundamentalist party. After the partition Teddy found less and less support in the city and thus moved to the dusty suburb-village hybrids, called towns, around the edge of the metropolitan area. These towns were home to blue collar families and service workers like police, teachers, and fire fighters. Shepherd lived in one of these towns. Though his family refused to affiliate with a particular party, the stakes in this upcoming election were too high to ignore. Now, Shepherd's parents would stay up late at night bickering over taxes and human rights. It seemed pointless to the young 18 year old adult. Of course he wouldn't say that, as he knew there had to have been some sort of significance in it. Why else would people get so emotionally tied to it? There was something about politics that was connected to the human heart. It was a very complicated and messy topic. Maintaining ethos in political conversations was hard as Shepherd was the type of guy who understood the point on both sides of the argument. "Both seem to be right," he would often think. Out of frustration and impatience, he grew to the point where he would now simply tell people that politics was "pointless".

     One day Shepherd found himself outside a political debate unexpectedly on his way to the market. Though he usually found himself exhausted with politics, he couldn't seem to ignore a good controversial debate. From a distance the crowd looked like a sea of trees and birds. Up close, he recognized the images to be political symbols sewed onto hats, flags, and t-shirts. Shepherd himself was unfamiliar with these symbols, but we have a slight advantage over him since we get to hear this story from my perspective. The Tree was the symbol of the Fundamentalist Party, led by Teddy. The "Tree", as we call it, was a simple caricature of a spruce tree with roots underneath, symbolizing the party’s platform of going back and re-establishing our "roots", that is, our basic moral guidelines, before progressing further into development and economic growth. The Bird was a little blue bird overlaid in front of an "equals" sign. For the Idealist Party, the two short black parallel lines indicated equality amongst all people regardless of race, occupation, gender, caste, or creed. Even financially, they argued for more evenly distributed funds amongst the people. The blue bird represented their desire for this equality to come from a greater power source that “flies high” above all the rest, in other words, the Leader. The Leader of the Idealists was a younger man named, interestingly, Bird. Doubt not the inspiration behind his symbol.

     The crowd was loud and passionate. Men and women alike had sweat droplets dripping down their faces as they yelled coarse chants and curses. From behind he felt a force against his shoulders knocking him forward. Turning around he could see two men pushing and fighting each other. One of them had just been shoved into Shepherd’s back. Shepherd kept moving forward, but felt his emotions rise as he stepped closer inward among the throng. Sweat was now rising through his arms and forehead and his heart was beating so powerfully it caused his veins to pop and face to heat up. What were these people so concerned about anyway? He could hear his parent’s argument from the previous night in his head.

     "Isn't there something more to life than this mindless bickering?" he thought.     Out of rising irritation, Shepherd ran out from the crowd climbed up onto the surrounding fence. Finally, up on the fence and away from the crowd, Shepherd felt more at ease. (It's amazing what a little fresh air can do for a person's emotional life.)  Now, having collected himself he looked out among the crowd and listened in to the debate.

     "The dream I have for this city is the collaborative vision of the people," Bird started. "There should be no doubt among the people that we are not happy. We need a hope that all can hold on to! We need a hope that is durable, yet also accessible. We need a hope that is actually hopeful for all people! We need a hope that doesn't walk around with fake smiles and pleasant propaganda! We need a hope beyond what we can see from human eyes. We need a hope from above. A hope from the Bird!"

     The crowd screamed in cheerful adoration. 

     "Moving on," the mediator chimed in, "I want to hear each of your thoughts on the controversial issue of creating of a National Bank: should we or should we not?”

     “It’s clear,” Bird started without hesitation, “that this issue is an issue of utmost     importance for our nation. We know that our chosen currency, the Shekel, carries within itself a unique quality. If by design or by curse, we know not with confidence, but, we can assure quite confidently, the effect of shekels transferred upon the human spirit to be formidable.

     Therefore, I defend passionately the absolute need for the security, protection, and care of society through the monitoring of and measuring of the shekel by way of a government owned National Bank. Any alternative will lead to quick destruction and a civil war between families, friends, and ultimately, our nation. Now’s the time to stand together…”

     "Time’s up. Thank you, Bird,” interrupted the moderator, “What are your thoughts Teddy?"

     Teddy looked out amongst the crowd, and looked back at his opponent. He replied with a quite, but authoritative voice, "Bird, tell me, are you God?" Bird stayed quiet and let him continue. "Your plan sounds nice. It really does. But how can we be sure your monopolistic government can always be trusted? You make nice promises, but can you deliver? When power and wealth enter your courts, will you be strong enough to overcome temptation and stay true to your word? If you get voted into power, what will you not be in charge of? Who will keep the Bird accountable when the whole city in your--"

     "Teddy, the debate is about the National Bank. Please stay on topic."

     "Yes sir, I apologize."

     Teddy looked out among the crowd one more time. He placed his eyes on a young man sitting on the back fence. "You, sitting on the fence in the back! I have a question for you... Hey you!" Shepherd's heart sunk. Was he seriously getting called out among the hundreds in front of him? Was he in trouble? Thoughts of climbing down the opposite side of the fence and running crossed his mind, but he was paralyzed stiff with fear. What would he want to hear from me? I know nothing about politics!

     "Candidate, please stay on topic." reminded the Mediator.

     Teddy glanced and quickly replied, "Yes sir, I understand. I just need one second."

Then, with his eyes fixed on Shepherd he said audibly, "You on the fence, will you answer my question?"

     "Yes?" Shepherd responded quizzically and loud enough for all to hear. Being chronically unsure of himself, he quickly felt sweat bead up again. The question came:

     "Who do you put your ultimate hope in: humanity or government?"

     Shepherd thought for a moment. The point Teddy was trying to make was right, a single man in charge of the government was a pretty risky chance. They don't call the Idealists idealistic for nothing. It may be a nice model to live by if in fact we lived in a perfect world, but we don't. Humans were fickle and shekels indeed had some dark mystic quality to them. Which, Shepherd thought to himself, was a fascinating and mysterious topic itself. Shekels were used every day as money for groceries, transportation, and debts. Literally everything in society revolved around the trading and saving of shekels. It definitely sped up the growth of society, as without them they were stuck with trading goats and wood like generations before. The problem with such a barter system however, was its inability to store up wealth for later use. Goats die, wood and vegetables rot. Shekels, in contrast, would last multiple life times taking only minimal wear and tear. This increased trading efficiency and capacity. This was the birth of modern economy and urbanization and completely changed the course of history. But, unlike the goats and wood, shekels carried with them an inherent dark power, a mystical energy like black magic. More on that later- Now, the hustle and bustle of the debate soared back into view as Shepherd saw the sea of trees and birds staring back at him with expectation. The question came rushing back into his mind:

     "Who do you put your hope in?"

..

     Meanwhile, a small burst of light blasted momentarily not too far away in a field nearby. Someone, or something, was waiting for him.