The Twelve Blessings (and One in Disguise) of Childhood

The Fourth Blessing: Riches
By Amber Greene, Mama Moontime

Here is part 4 of a 13 part series, where we will delve into the delightful kingdom of childhood. Each month, we will receive a gift from the Wise Women who so blessed the young girl Briar Rose. Some of you may be more familiar with her common name, Sleeping Beauty. Enjoy!

The veins of gold run deep in a young child. Snaking their way throughout the heart and soul of a child, each boy and girl must learn to balance caring for their precious resource and knowing when to shout ‘Eureka’!

Their riches are not vain piles of inanimate resources such as cash or silver coins, a dowry box of linen or a milking cow. Their riches cannot be measured in pounds or kilograms, by their shiny glean or date stamp, or by the colour of their robes. Their riches are veiled, hidden behind youthful eyes, deep in the bowels of the spirit.

Youthful exuberance is one such richness and glory, a commodity that many an aging grandparent would trade the world for. A young child relishes the ability to speak their own truth, to embrace growth and change, and to be immersed in a world of total choice. It is a gift that can never be regained. Their wealth also lies in having a clean slate, where each choice leads them on a new adventure and toward a new direction, with limited or no baggage at all. Oh, for the freedom of light “life-travel”!

A young child glows gold with their wonder at the world they will one day inherit. They see no limit to their potential, and seek to become everything. One day a ballerina, the next a truck driver, or teacher, artist or singer, zoo-keeper or sailor. They seek the pearl inside the oyster, trusting there will be a pearl inside every shell. Yet should that belief be quashed, they quickly shed disappointment because they also find beauty in a grain of sand. Their most valuable wealth though, resides behind the eyes, veiled and cloaked in the finest of silk. This richness is individual, quirky and unmeasurable. It is the soul of the child, the rare gifts that converge in this unusual matrix to create a one-of-a-kind being, NEVER seen before or to be repeated again.

There is a pot of gold that sits at the bottom of the child’s own rainbow. No matter how hard we try to secure the rights to that chest, their pot remains slightly out of reach for every other person in the world. We can come close, we might even catch glimpses, but the breadth and depth of the trove can’t ever be fully grasped. (Nor, by rights, can anyone steal or squander ours!) Only the child may sit and count coins, share the gold among family and friends, or bury it deep behind a tree. Their soul’s deepest riches are a treasure that no one else can keep but may only borrow if offered.