I have the privilege (if I can call it that) of knowing a few people who have an enormous amount of financial resources held in secret. These are people who have millions of dollars invested and hidden away from view of anyone. By examining their lives, there is no way you could possibly conceive of the idea that any of these people might have any more financial resources than you. If anything, looking at the way they live, you are more likely to think they have much less than you, and you may feel compelled to offer to buy them lunch, or offer them a few dollars to help them out, because while they are likeable and have a great deal of potential, they seem somewhat pitiful and you feel sorry for them.
Here are people who have millions (I refer to demonstrable wealth), yet they live the lives of those less fortunate. Why would they do such a thing?
It’s not unreasonable to judge them, or jump to conclusion about why someone might live such a life, because if it were you or me, we would be thinking about enjoying some of that hidden treasure. We think that it would not be unreasonable to live in a nice house, drive a nice car, have some nice clothes and a few baubles… a few modest luxuries would not even make a dent in this pile of hidden wealth. Not to mention the incredible good that could be done. How many people could be fed, housed, healed, or otherwise helped with some of these resources, which remain hidden from the world?
If we are aware of their state (or acting as if they are in poverty, but secretly maintain huge hidden financial resources locked away in a vault in a non-disclosed location), we might refer to them as miserly, or possibly consider them mentally challenged or deranged. If anything you might think they must be extremely fearful about money and its effect on the human condition. And to think of the consequences, these vast financial resources are so well hidden, that even in the passing of these individuals, friends, family, spouses or no other human would possibly be a potential beneficiary of their undisclosed wealth.
When I met the first person, living a incongruent life, like this, I thought he was probably the only person in the world with this particular disorder. But since then, I have met several others, some in my pastoral work and another through the results of an extensive private investigation.
What are your thoughts about this kind of individual?
When I see something in someone else that irks me, gets stuck in my craw, makes my skin crawl, or causes me to raise an eyebrow, maybe not initially but as quickly as possible I try to gain enough composure to ask myself if I am witnessing a metaphor of my own life.
Do I possess treasures that I harbor from my peers?
What skills, talents and ideas do I possess that I keep hidden from others? What am I fearful of, that if I disclosed or demonstrated it, might not be understood or valued (as much as I value it) by others? Is it possible to consider that the effects of what I might have to share (which I am reluctant to do) be less than possible for others to accept, or may have a negative effect in or upon the lives of others? Do these or other questions and/or fear keep me from sharing it with others?
This applies to you and I, and we think there is something so romantic about the idea of Clark Kent or Diana Prince. If only we could maintain a low profile secret identity, offering the ability to live a normal life, while being able to fully exercise our abilities as Superman or Wonder Woman (but we, too, are afraid, inhibited or feel unworthy).
The individuals on which this thought was based, certainly have mastered their secret identities, but have created identities that are as protected as are their hordes of financial cash, and there is a sadness that comes from seeing all that potential good go to waste, only to be inherited by an off-shore bank by abandonment. We think what a waste.
Likewise, what a waste it is for you or me to not share our hidden treasure(s) with our communities or the world at large.
Is the time now that you start to find ways to release some of your hidden treasure, to find ways to share it that may benefit others, possibly even positively affect or even save the lives of others?
If it is time, know this: There are people out there, like me, whose mission in life is to assist others in releasing their treasure and letting their light shine, like a beacon of hope to others.
You are not alone.
Do not die with your treasure hidden away, with no possibility of making the world a better place.