On November 2, 2009, the penultimate day of our vacation in Mexico, after kayaking in the afternoon, Reuben started building some sand castles on the beach and as we searched for the camera to take a picture of what he had built, we realized that it was not in the bag that we usually carried it in. I went to the room to look for it and when I did not see it there, I started to panic. Panic stricken I asked Reuben to pray and we both prayed as Sangeetha walked over to the restaurant where we had lunch to see if we had left it there. I eagerly waited for Sangeetha to return with the good news that she had found it but that was not the case.

This is when it dawned on me that what I really felt concerned about was not the camera itself but the photos that was in the chip within the camera. We had taken about 200+ photos since the beginning of our vacation, including some family pictures at Chichen Itza, which is one of the seven wonders of the world. The camera is just a shell and was replaceable but the memories that were captured in the chip within were not only irreplaceable but priceless as well.

Likewise the shell of our bodies (jars of clay) is not what we should be concerned about but what we contain within it in our hearts (chip) is what truly matters. And what truly matters is the treasure of Jesus Christ (who is priceless and irreplaceable) whom we should hold within our jars of clay (2 Corinthians 4:5-7) in our hearts.

Eventually, we did find the camera which was in the room carefully stowed away by the housekeeping service personnel and now I believe that this experience was given to teach me a valuable lesson. i.e., what really matters is the treasure of Jesus Christ hidden in those who believe in His name and not our ephemeral bodies that will metamorphose one day into celestial ones.

2 Corinthians 4:5-7 (KJV)
5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.
6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.