Empty Boxes

 

Photo by Mike Goren 2006

I recently dreamed that my husband and I were hosting a children’s party at our ballroom. The theme was a treasure hunt in which each child would choose among different wrapped boxes until they found one containing a valuable present, which they could keep.

We wrap empty shoeboxes in red, blue, green or yellow kraft paper and put individual gifts in boxes that are wrapped similarly, except that each of these is decorated with a pleated, semicircular paper fan, white with colorful embellishments. The centerpiece for each table is an assortment of these boxes – some empty, some containing treasure.

Once the party begins, we’re surprised that most children choose the undecorated boxes, even after they see other children find a present in the decorated boxes. We are even more shocked and disappointed that some children who unwrap a box containing a present don’t like it and refuse to keep it, even throwing a temper tantrum and lashing out at us for not giving them something better.

As I awoke and contemplated the meaning of the dream, I considered that God offers each of us the most valuable gift of all – eternal life by trusting in the death, burial and resurrection of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4), as the only Way to Heaven (John 14:6).

That “unspeakable,” or unimaginably precious, gift (2 Corinthians 9:15) is freely available to anyone who accepts it (John 3:16; Acts 2:21; Romans 10:13). We don’t deserve it and can’t earn it (Ephesians 2:7-9), for we are all sinners deserving eternal punishment in hell, separated by our sins from holy, righteous God (Romans 3:23). Yet God through His grace offers us forgiveness of our sins through the shed blood of Jesus Christ (Romans 3:25), the perfect Lamb of God Who died in our place to pay our sin debt (John 1:29).

God created each of us to desire that gift. All seek happiness and peace, yet so many fail to find it because they look in all the wrong places – wealth, power, prestige, human relationships, and even substance abuse.

In the dream, all the children were eager to look for the treasure, but many chose the empty boxes, ignoring the obvious clue of the wrapping, even when they witnessed other children finding treasure only in the decorated boxes, and not in the plain boxes. The pleated fan identifying the filled boxes was like an angel’s wing, or like the fan in the hand of Christ as He judges those who accept or reject Him (Matthew 3:12; Luke 3:17). The fan was white, symbolizing Christ’s purity, yet adorned with brilliant colors reflecting His multiple attributes and rainbow-lit throne (Revelation 4:3).

It was not a subtle clue, just as God’s Word is clear, not covert, about how we can obtain eternal life. God is not the author of confusion, but of peace (1 Corinthians 14:33). He clearly states that we can find peace regarding our eternal destiny in Heaven only through His Son, the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6).

But sadly, many want to complicate that clear direction, and they distort and pervert the Gospel (Matthew 7:15) by claiming that there are many roads leading to Heaven, or that we can only get there if our good deeds outweigh the bad, or only if we are baptized, or circumcised, or perform other rituals. But God views these feeble attempts at salvation as “filthy rags” and a slap in the face to His Son’s completed work on the cross (Isaiah 64:6).

In the dream, we didn’t spell out that only the boxes decorated with fans contained treasure. But the children should have quickly learned that because they had seen different boxes opened and viewed their contents.

Once we are saved, we are a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17), and our changed life should be a clear witness to others about how they too can be transformed from doomed sinner to Heaven-bound saint. But we should also tell people what Christ has done for us and be prepared to show them what God’s Word says about how they can find eternal life in Heaven (1 Peter 3:15).

We were even more disappointed in the dream that some of the children who found the treasure rejected it, or even lashed out at us because it was not what they wanted. God’s gift of salvation is freely offered, yet we must accept it to claim its benefits. Sadly, many who hear the Gospel dismiss it or even angrily attack those who present it, just as the Jews were so furious with Stephen for telling them the truth about Christ (and their having killed Him) that they gnashed at him with their teeth and stoned him to death (Acts 7)

May our changed lives in Christ be a clear road map to others about how they can find the treasure of eternal life! May we also be bold to clearly tell others the truth of how they can end their futile search for happiness in all the wrong places and find the true gift of eternal life in Christ alone!

© 2024 Laurie Collett

Remembering Hedy

A few days ago I received an unexpected and sobering email. Hedy, my best friend throughout our teenage years, had cried out in the night from what turned out to be a burst cerebellar aneurysm deep in the brain. Within minutes, she had passed into eternity.

We had studied at the same ballet school, worked hard and sweated together, rehearsed and performed in the same troupe, shared our dreams, disappointments, and triumphs, We helped each other through the heartbreak of first crushes, family problems, school struggles, conflicts in our dance world. We confided in one another about sorrows we could not bear to discuss with anyone else.

Best of all, we laughed, long and hard, about so many things. How much better and healthier than to cry over problems we could not control (Proverbs 17:22). Together we agonized through stretching exercises, bandaged our blistered feet, and stuffed cardboard and lambs’ wool in our pointe shoes to ease the pain.But we always found ways to make it fun!

We enjoyed studying pictures and reading biographies of great ballerinas, learning about stage makeup, and rehearsing in my family’s living room. We improvised to classical music recorded on LPs, and choreographed ballets we dreamed we would produce one day.

When we were juniors in high school, Hedy helped me get my first semi-professional gig as a ballet dancer. She had heard of auditions at a local ballet company, and was supportive and encouraging (Ephesians 4:2) rather than resentful when I was cast as a soloist.

But shortly thereafter, time, space and plans separated us. I went off to college as a premed student and she continued to pursue her ballet studies, supporting herself through odd jobs at dance studios and working long hours, yet never too tired to polish and her perfect her own craft.

In the years to come we seldom saw one another, yet the bond between us could never be broken. Hedy was not only like a sister to me, but also like a daughter to my mother when I moved out of state, accompanying her on long trips to our family burial plot and responding quickly to emergencies. We kept in touch through phone calls and mostly through long but sporadic letters. Pouring out our hearts to one another on the written page was almost like confiding in one another face to face.

As the years went on, our life paths continued to diverge, even though we both continued to explore our love of dance. Hedy opened her own dance studio and offered scholarships to underprivileged children, teaching them by example her joy in dance, and the devotion, dedication and discipline needed to advance in this unique art form that uses the human body as the instrument of expression.

I became a neurologist, got married, had a son, and had a successful career, first in academics and then in private practice. But I never lost my joy in dancing, and began performing, competing and choreographing with my husband and dance partner.

In 2000, my life took a dramatic turn. I was born again (John 3:1-8) by realizing that I was a sinner in need of a Savior (Romans 3:23), and that Jesus Christ, Son of God and God Himself, came to earth in human form (John 1:1-14).

He died on the cross as the perfect, sinless Sacrifice to pay for all our sins, to reconcile sinful man to Holy God (2 Corinthians 5:18-19; Hebrews 2:17). He was buried and rose again on the third day, so that all who trust Him as Lord and Savior would have abundant, eternal life (1 Corinthians 15:1-4; John 3:16; 10:10).

Naturally, I wanted to share this life-changing experience with Hedy, so I put it into words with pen on stationery, and prayed it would touch her heart. Several months went by, and I wondered if I had offended her or if she thought the pressures of my career had driven me off the deep end.

But then I received her letter and tore open the envelope with trembling hands. She explained that she was shocked at first, but that she valued my opinion enough to reflect carefully on what I had written. Praise God, she too had trusted Christ as her Lord and Savior!

Hedy began seeking out Christian friends and listening to Christian radio, and I prayed that she would find a Bible-preaching, loving church home, to encourage others and be encouraged, and to worship God and study His Word together (Hebrews 10:25).

What a blessing to learn, in that otherwise dismal email I just received, that the grandmother of one of her students had invited Hedy to go to church with her, and that Hedy had enjoyed attending services there!

Her memorial service was held at that church with more than a hundred of her students and their families coming to pay their respects and to honor the love she had shown them during her all-too-brief time with them. We don’t understand why Hedy’s life was cut off so abruptly (James 4:14), but we can trust that God has His reasons for bringing her home (Romans 8:28).

With God there are no coincidences, and it made me smile as I thought of the church to which He had guided her. The church is about a 15 mile drive from where Hedy grew up, lived, and had her school. And yet, it is within walking distance of the home where I grew up and where Hedy visited me often for teenage sleepovers.

When I was a young girl, long before I knew Christ, I used to walk or bike around our neighborhood (in the days and in a town when and where it was safe for children to explore their community without close adult supervision). I always felt drawn to the church that Hedy would end up joining decades later. Sometimes when I felt troubled or just needed to think things over, I would park my bike outside and go in, for it was always left unlocked even though no one was there.

Once inside I was always struck by the quiet, so profound that I could hear the rustling of air molecules in my ears. Often I would pray silently to God, although I didn’t yet know Him. Thank God that He knew me and a plan for me since before the beginning of time, drawing me to Himself (Jeremiah 29:11; Acts 17:27). Thank God that He had a plan for Hedy too, and that He allowed me the awesome privilege of being the one to tell her about Him! (1 Thessalonians 2:19; 2 Corinthians 5:20)

Praise God for friends who encourage and support us, sharing our burdens as well as our joy (Ecclesiastes 4:12; Galatians 6:2). For the Christian, death of a loved one in Christ brings sorrow as we miss them on earth, for they cannot return to us, yet we know that we will one day go to them, praise God! (2 Samuel 12:23).

This gives us the peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7) and the joy of anticipating that blessed and lively hope (Titus 2:13; 1 Peter 1:3) of living with Him and with one another throughout eternity (1 Corinthians 15:54-57; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

One day Hedy and I will meet again, praising Him with dance! (Psalm 149:3; 150:4) Perhaps we will dance before His throne the dances we choreographed as teenagers but never had a chance to perform! 

© 2016 Laurie Collett