2021: The Year of Buried Treasure

It has been quite the year.  The difficulties and heartaches of 2020 have touched everyone.  News outlets, TV anchors, social media, small local papers, politicians, celebrities - all have announced, discussed, trivialized and analyzed the tragic and contentious events of the past year.  For good reason: the confluence of a global pandemic, economic hardship, an historically contentious political battle and election, and the renewed battle for racial justice have rocked us all.  For nearly every person around the globe, social norms have been upended and revised, and the growing waves of tragic deaths, political upheaval and vitriolic public discourse have unsettled the world in ways not seen in decades.  

A new year is upon us, and many are looking forward to the end of this most difficult of years, pinning their hopes on a 2021 that will bring relief from the tragedies and difficulties of this past year.  And that seems perfectly reasonable, two days away from ripping out that last page of the calendar of 2020.  Surely, 2021 will be better, right?

Maybe. I think it depends on what 2020 has taught us; you and me. It all depends on how the year has shaped us, and what we take away from the experience.

My belief is that difficult times, adverse times, times of sorrow and loss have something to teach us. I deeply believe that what doesn’t break us will make us, will mold us into better persons- hopefully persons who will care more deeply, love more completely - persons who will steward the lives they live with compassion and understanding. It’s a big ask, I know; but that is the hope that I carry into 2021.

I believe there is buried treasure to be unearthed in 2021. Our country - and by extension - we, its citizens, spent last year overwhelmed in deep division, social unrest, economic uncertainty, pandemic chaos… living through what was (in my mind) no less than a global existential crisis of heart, mind and soul. But the great pressures of 2020 can produce the immeasurably valuable treasures of 2021, if we are willing to stop for a moment or two, and go digging for those treasures. What’s the point of surviving an epic year of change and loss if we cannot stand in the next year, better, wiser, more loving?

We’ve each lived through a personal time of trial and testing, and so we are each responsible to find the buried treasure in our lives that has formed from that most difficult of times.

Did the loss of a job create an economic crisis in your life? How has that changed your priorities? How can that influence how you look to your future, and plan for the coming year? Is the move toward the simplicity of life part of that plan? Did you discover new ways to enjoy life that didn’t involve buying things? How has it changed what you once thought of as absolutely necessary?

Did the loss of a spouse, a dear friend, a child upend your world and cause you to crash into deep sorrow? Where is the buried treasure found in that horrific event? Are you looking at the friends and family you do have, and seeing their love for you in a new way? Has someone reached out to you that you’d not noticed in your life before? Have you experienced the blessing of love and care from people you didn’t expect? Is there an opportunity for a new person to love, a new way to reach out and connect with others?

Has enforced isolation caused you to see your home in a new light? Have you concentrated on making your home more cozy, more fitted to you and your family’s comfort? Have you learned new ways to interact with your children and family members in ways you’d never have done before? Have you learned to appreciate the simpler things to be found at home? Have you learned to appreciate a walk in the woods, or the quiet of a midnight stroll in your neighborhood in ways you’ve not before?

No matter what we’ve experienced, whether it was the loss of our own health, our job, our friends, a family member - if we resolve to find the buried treasure that’s been refined from that experience, then that experience, that loss, that uncertainty - will not have been in vain. Mining the gold from our difficulties may seem like a fruitless endeavor, but it’s what will make the entire nightmare of 2020 become the treasure of 2021. Learning from our adversities will only strengthen and beautify our lives going forward. Truly. As Maya Angelou stated: “You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, and how you can still come out of it.”

My prayer for you is that you are not defeated by 2020, but that in mining its treasures, you will come to a better understanding of who you are, and that you will rise up strong, beautiful and joyful in 2021.

May the new year bring you joy and blessing.