Investing in Eternity
How do you identify a company worth investing your money in? One thing to look at is the burn rate: how quickly it spends money relative to the revenue it generates. A company that invests heavily without much return might exhaust its resources and fail much sooner than expected. Some recent tech companies, especially those involved in artificial intelligence, seem to have rewritten the rules on burn rates, confounding conventional business wisdom. They spend a fortune today because they believe tomorrow’s payoff will be incomparable. That willingness to risk something of incomparable value provides an unexpected entry into today’s Gospel parables of the treasure hidden in the field and the pearl of great price.
What treasure is so valuable that it is worth risking everything else to possess? The kingdom of heaven is that treasure. Jesus is not asking us to gamble with our lives. He is inviting us to recognize the only treasure whose value can never diminish. Everything else passes away. The kingdom alone is worth staking our lives upon. We need to learn to make the only investment that truly matters: investing our lives in eternity.
We live in a world that often knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. This leads us to focus on the price tags of things and fosters a materialistic way of looking at the world. A strong brand exists when people believe its value exceeds the price. A few weeks ago, I met a business owner who was proud to show off his company’s Cybertruck. I was surprised to learn that the first generation of Tesla Cybertrucks cost more than subsequent versions. People were willing to pay a premium because they valued being among the first owners.
We follow prices continually when we fill up our gas tanks or buy milk at the supermarket. Yet we spend far less time appreciating the value of what surrounds us, especially the gift of human life. If we can recognize hidden value in brands and investments, how much more should we recognize the value God has placed in every human person?
Pope John Paul II reminded us of the value of human life in his encyclical, Evangelium Vitae.
Life is entrusted to man as a treasure which must not be squandered, as a talent which must be used well. Man must render an account of it to his Master (Pope St. John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae, 52).
Health crises remind us how fragile life is. We rarely appreciate our health until we lose it. How much would the use of your hands be worth if they suddenly stopped working? How valuable is a single breath when breathing becomes difficult? We often take these gifts for granted. Yet the Gospel reminds us that the health of the soul matters even more than the health of the body.
Peter Kreeft was recently asked what advice he would give newly married couples. His answer surprised me.
The last view I had of my wife after she died… I fell in love with her again. Here is a wasted, emaciated, wrinkled, suffering body. It’s as beautiful as a crucifix. Because that body ain’t gonna last, but the soul is. So if you don’t love her soul but just love her body, then don’t get married (Peter Kreeft, Pints with Aquinas Podcast).
His answer reveals that true love sees beyond the physical to the person’s eternal dignity. His answer reminds us that the soul possesses a beauty the body can never lose. In a culture that often prizes the physical above the spiritual, he points us toward what truly lasts.
Faith teaches us to recognize what is truly valuable. We spend so much time and effort to improve our health or acquire new possessions, but we can’t lose sight of what is most important. Your salvation is the pearl of great price and the treasure hidden in the field. It is worth selling everything else to possess that treasure.
The merchant sold everything because he finally recognized what was truly valuable. Every day we make similar choices with our time, our money, our careers, and our relationships. The question is not whether we are investing our lives. We all are. The question is whether we are investing them in what lasts forever.