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Unity Church of Castro Valley

Sunday Message for October 29, 2006

The Alchemist

Recently I read a book that really impressed me.  I have put several copies of the book in our bookstore. It is called The Alchemist and it was written by Paulo Coelho.  It has been sold in 150 countries and translated into 60 languages. It was published originally in Portuguese in 1988. It was translated into English in 1993 and this is a ‘must read’ book.

It’s an easy read and it’s a delightful parable full of amazing wisdom.  Coelho has written books about wisdom, obsession, temptation, faith, hope, love, courage, redemption, and forgiveness.  I have read several of his books and they are all delightful and full of insight. Let me tell you about this book.

REALIZE YOUR DESTINY

Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy, has a dream about finding treasure in the Pyramids of Egypt.  A gypsy woman and an old man claiming to be a mysterious king advise him to pursue it.  The old man tells him, “To realize one’s destiny is a person’s only obligation. And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”

Amazingly, the Bible tells us the same thing. It says in (Jeremiah 29:11-13) “For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.  Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you.  When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart.”

SANTIAGO’S QUEST

In this story, Santiago takes on the courage of an adventure, sells his sheep and travels to Tangier in Africa.  Think about it.  Could you dump your career, sell what you have, and take off after your dream?  And if you did, would you expect it to all go like a fairy tail?

Well life is not just a bowl of cherries – sometimes there are pits.  So after a thief steals Santiago’s money, he takes a job with a crystal merchant who unwittingly teaches Santiago important lessons for his long journey ahead.

So often, we only see the disasters in our lives.  Yet, when we become spiritually clear – we can see that each apparent disaster may be a valuable lesson for our journey.  We need to open our eyes to the God in every situation.

The crystal merchant tells Santiago that in his religion they are supposed to make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lives.  So that has always been his dream but he doubts that he will ever actually do it.  He says that having a dream is more important than ever fulfilling it.

This is a trap that many people fall into.  They never risk fulfilling their dream because they think it is not possible.  But you can be sure that God never gives you dreams without giving you the way to realize them.  It may take courage, it may take faith, but your dreams are waiting for you to come true.

After working at the crystal shop for a year, Santiago earns enough money to cover his losses and return home.  But then something unexpected happens.  On a desert caravan, Santiago meets an intriguing Englishman.  The Englishman’s passion for knowledge and his relentless quest to uncover the secrets of alchemy inspire Santiago to pursue his own dream of finding the treasure.

OUR PERSONAL TREASURE

We all need to be aware of our own personal calling.  Some say that this is the path that God chose for us here on Earth.  Some say that we create it through our right choices as we grow spiritually. But whatever it is, it is God’s blessing to us.  Whenever we do something that fills us with enthusiasm, we are following our legend.  However, if you observe people in your life, you will see that not everyone has the courage to confront their own dreams.

Have you ever had a dream of being or doing something, and then talked yourself out of it?  There are four obstacles to finding our treasure, or following our dream.

FIRST OBSTACLE – IT’S IMPOSSIBLE

As children, we are told that what we want is impossible.  Because, as children, we have magical thinking and may consider jumping off the roof and flying.  Then as adolescents we dream big, but travel, college, or even success may be beyond our parents ability to conceive.

So we grow up with this idea that our dreams are impossible.  And with the passing years we accumulate layers of prejudice, fear, and guilt.  Our personal calling gets so deeply buried in our soul that we forget it even exists.  But, it’s still there.

SECOND OBSTACLE – LOVE

If we have the courage to uncover our dreams, we are then faced by the second obstacle – love.  We know what we want to do, but we are afraid of hurting those around us by abandoning everything in order to pursue our dream.

We don’t realize that love is a driving force, not something that will prevent us going forward.  We don’t realize that those who genuinely wish us well want us to be happy and are prepared to accompany us on that journey.

THIRD OBSTACLE – FEAR OF DEFEATS

Once we have accepted that love is a stimulus, we come up against the third obstacle – fear of the defeats we will meet on the path. 

Those who fight for their dream suffer far more when it doesn’t work out. They can’t fall back on the old excuse, “Oh well, I didn’t really want it anyway.”  We know that we did want it.  We know that we have staked everything on it. 

The path of the personal calling is no easier than any other path, except that our whole heart is in this journey.  So we must learn to have patience in difficult times.  We must know that the Universe is conspiring in our favor, even though we may not understand how.

And I don’t know if the defeats are necessary or not – but they happen.  When we first go after our dream, we have no experience and make mistakes.  The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.

So, you might be asking yourself why it’s so important to live your personal dream if you are just going to suffer more than other people?  And the answer is that once we have overcome the defeats – and we always do – we are filled by a greater sense of euphoria and confidence.  In the very depths of our soul, we know that we are proving ourselves worthy of the miracle of life.  We start to live with enthusiasm and pleasure.

FOURTH OBSTACLE – FEAR OF REALIZING THE DREAM

So once we have uncovered our dream, used the power of love to nurture it, and spent many years living with the scars, we suddenly notice that what we always wanted is there, waiting for us, perhaps the very next day.  Then comes the fourth obstacle – the fear of realizing the dream for which we fought all our lives.

Oscar Wilde said: “Each man kills the thing he loves.”  We have seen this happen. The mere possibility of getting what we want fills the soul of the ordinary person with guilt.  We look around at all those who have failed to get what they want and feel that we do not deserve to get what we want either.  This is especially true if those people are in the family system with which we identify.  We forget about all the obstacles we overcame, all the suffering we endured, all the things we had to give up in order to get this far.

This is the most dangerous of the obstacles because it has a kind of saintly aura about it: renouncing joy and conquest.  But if you believe yourself worthy of the thing you fought so hard to get, then you become an instrument of God, you help the Soul of the World, and you understand why you are here.

King Melchizedek

At the beginning of his journey Santiago meets King Melchizedek.  And at the beginning of all our journeys we meet the Christ presence within us that gives us sage advice about following our dreams.  King Melchizedek represents our inner knowing, our inner wisdom – when we listen to it.  It is always there for us, all we have to do is trust in our own Christ presence.

Even Abraham, in the Bible, met King Melchizedek early on in his journey when he was still called Abram. (Genesis 14:18) “And King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High.”  And Abraham tithed to Melchizedek one tenth of all the spoils of the battle they had just won.

So we have to ask ourselves, “What do we give to this wise Christ presence within us?”  Do we give even one tenth of our time listening to the inner presence?  Paying attention to that still, small voice within?

King Melchizedek gives Santiago two stones, the Urim and Thummim.  He tells him that when he needs an answer he can use the stones, that the white one signifies ‘yes’ and the black one ‘no’.  And we too have the answers to our questions within us.  God never gives us the question, the problem, the challenge without also giving us the answer or the solution.

We come into this world equipped with everything we need to follow our Personal Legend.  God didn’t send any of us into this world ill equipped.  What may seem like a handicap to one, is merely a way of gaining soul strength to another.

In the book The Alchemist, Coelho breaks down the journey we all take to find the most meaningful treasures in our lives into steps that are natural and magical.  It is about the faith, power, and courage we all have within us to pursue the intricate path of a Personal Legend.  It is about a path charted by the mysterious magnet of destiny but obscured by distractions.  Santiago shows how along the way we learn to trust our hearts, read the seemingly inconspicuous signs, and understand that as we look to fulfill a dream, it looks to find us just the same, if we let it.

REFERENCE: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

SCRIPTURE: Jeremiah 29:11-13; Genesis 14:18

Last updated November 5, 2006