My bike, for the sixth year, was locked exactly where it had been deposited the year before. Mark’s bike however was no were to be found. My bikes, two of them, had four locks holding them in place to my dismay the keys in my pocket only unlocked two of them. Had I not brought all the keys with me? I racked my brain for what I had done with the other two keys. As we walked away empty handed I hoped I’d not left the keys at home. This would mean cutting locks while being watched by CCTV cameras. I, slowly, remembered that I had put the keys on two separate key rings, but could only remember packing one of them. I have to return to the YHA and dig through my stuff. We stopped at a bike shop to check out prices and I was able to chat with Pip who had helped me purchase my bike last year.
Back at the YHA I went through all my bags emptying everything on to the floor of our teeny tinny room which sleeps four. No key in that bag, no key in that bag, no key in that bag only one left. Nothing on the bottom of the bag now let me empty out the side pockets. Keys I found keys, wait these are the keys I already have one pocket left. At the very bottom of the last pocket I find the keys I need to unlock both bikes. Life is like that isn’t it? Searching for something in all the obvious places, then when we look in the least obvious place we fine gold. Some people spend a great deal of energy looking all the while missing the gold that God has but around them. I’ve missed it time and time again.
It reminds me of a story about a prince in India who believed he was missing the most fabulous gem in the world. The story goes something like this he set off to find the most valuable gem in the world. While he was searching his palace fell in to disrepair, his servants striped it bare using their new found wealth to build their own palace. His family had to use whatever money was left to buy food, but that soon ran out. One by one his family members died and little by little the jungle took the palace over . After the many years of useless searching the prince returned home only to fine ruin. He is in rags as he has spent the fortune he took with him to pay for his journey. He wanders around then falls to his knees in sorrow having found the graves of his family. He cries out “Why!” as he looks toward the sky. Slowly he lowers his head and as he does so notices a statue that has been in his yard forever. There imbedded in the statue is a huge gem. In fact it is the most precious gem in the world. But, it now means nothing as those thing that were really the most precious gems are gone. Look around your “backyard” before you go off in search of things that can be found there.
After returning to the YHA with both my bikes we had dinner. While Mark was entertaining a group of kids from Cornwall I placed a call to Claudia to catch up on events of the last three days. Her laughter is intoxicating, and she is always able to put a positive view on things. Our SKYPE call just ended when Mark returned with a picture of the group he had been telling a story to. I tracked down my daughter who was returning to Phoenix from Las Vegas then let my son, via Facebook; know that we had arrived safely. It had been a long somewhat stressful day time for bed.
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