"On Hiding In Plain Sight"

The parking lot was busy, the busiest time of the day at the grocery store, and I was wandering around with my phone, digging through the shrubbery.  The heat of the day, the sight of the syringe, and the futility of my efforts dampened my enthusiasm for geocaching, at least for the day.  I knew I was close to the hidden cache, as the clue Caching in the Lamplight and information on my phone indicated I was within 2 feet.  After circling the lamp post in the middle of the parking lot for the hundredth time--well, not quite, but enough to feel like an idiot and hope no one was watching, I concluded that someone had come along and stolen it.  That was my story, and I was sticking to it.

Geocaching:  a pastime in which participants use a GPS receiver to find a hidden container at a specific latitude and longitude or to hide a container to be found in this manner. 

My adult children and grandchildren have introduced me to geocaching.  It is a treasure hunt of sorts, where finding a hidden cache is the accomplishment. The new smart phones simplify it, making it a user friendly activity.  There are over 2 million caches worldwide.  When you find one, you record it in the cache, exchange trinkets, return it to its hiding place, and log it online.  This was my first solo attempt and, as with so many, it was hiding in plain sight.  I just couldn't see it.

My son found it within 30 seconds, lifting the metal collar on the post, and sent me a picture to verify his feat.  Armed with some visible assistance I headed back for a third time and found it myself.  It was, indeed, hiding in plain sight.

Many years ago, when the space exploration program was underway, astronauts were given the charge to look for God while on their outer space mission.  Man's mind is askew.   Silly man.  God is not going to be found "out there."  He is right here; He is everywhere.  As with the cache, one just has to know where to look.

How do you find someone who is hiding in plain sight, let alone God?  I am of the belief that it all goes back to the heart.  If one honestly, genuinely desires to see God, to know Him, to find Him, he will.  It is never game-playing or manipulation but purity that counts.  And unlike geocaching, where one may find a trinket in the cache, He is a priceless treasure. 

I will probably make another effort to find another cache, armed and emboldened with one successful geocaching experience.  However, it will never compare to the search for and resulting find of the One who is hiding in plain sight.  While the one is fun, recreational, the other is priceless, eternal, and life-enriching, never to be regretted.

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened."