The Cranberry Village
- Kelly Venturo
- 11 minutes ago
- 6 min read
Chapter 7: The secret treasure; the story of Chillow the kingfisher
Chillow is a kingfisher. But he is not like most kingfishers. In fact, most kingfishers think he’s crazy. Most kingfishers are only concerned about their next meal—what it will be and how they will get it. Kingfishers eat fish, and they get them by diving into the water to snatch them. They perch on a branch over the Cranberry Pond, peering down into the water with their beady black eyes, and, all of a sudden, when they catch sight of a tell-tale silver flash, they dive in after it, coming up with a little wriggling fish in their beaks. Sometimes Paul the Mole gets a little jealous of them on days when the fishing is slow. In the evenings you can hear them all bragging about the day’s catch before they fly home for the night—each wants everyone else to hear about his fish!
Kingfishers are also very concerned about their looks. Their feathers must be smooth and shiny. Their bellies must be perfectly white. But above all else, the crest is the thing. Kingfishers pride themselves in their crests. The more dramatic the crest, the better. Kingfishers spend hours of their time preening, fretting over, and admiring their crests.
Chillow, however, is not like other kingfishers in any of these areas. He doesn’t think much about what he looks like, and he doesn’t care for fish. His feathers are usually ruffled and out of place, instead of sleek and neat and smooth, and his crest is what most kingfishers would label a disgrace to kingfisher-kind. He seldom remembers to comb or gel it, and even when he does, it doesn’t help much, for his crest is determined to be obstinate. Every feather is askew, flying this way and that, and no amount of smoothing and styling can tame the unruly disarray. Other kingfishers, of course, look on Chillow’s tempestuous crest with scorn, because, after all, that is simply not how a kingfisher wears his crest. Many a well-meaning kingfisher has approached Chillow with suggestions on how to remedy his alarming hair problem. But Chillow doesn’t view his crest as a problem. To be quite honest, he actually likes it that way, all wild and free. So he doesn’t worry in the least about what the other kingfishers say. In fact, he is far too busy to think about other kingfishers at all.
As I said before, Chillow Kingfisher doesn’t care for fish, so he doesn’t spend a lot of time fishing for them. That is another reason other kingfishers look down on him. But Chillow Kingfisher is oblivious to their whispers and smirks. He is, again, too busy.
Chillow Kingfisher is good friends with Paul the Mole, who, as you know, comes down to the pond every day to fish, and with Fenton Frog, who lives on the pond itself on his lily pad. Paul the Mole and Fenton Frog do not make fun of Chillow or look down on him. They talk to him nearly every day, and they do not think he is crazy, because they know what Chillow is always so busy about.
What is Chillow always so busy about, when he doesn’t dive for fish? Well, Chillow does dive alright like the others; he dives all day. But not for fish. All day he skims across the pond, zig-zagging back and forth, peering down into the water (and often bumping into other birds, being so absorbed in what he’s doing) until he sees something that catches his interest. And nearly everything catches his interest. A rusty tin can, broken jewelry, an old fishing lure . . . Whenever he sees something like this, he dives down and brings it up in his beak, carrying it high like a trophy. And how excited he is to show his treasure to someone, whether that person is Paul the Mole or Fenton Frog or another kingfisher or someone else—it doesn’t matter who they are; only that they are listening.
The kingfishers roll their eyes and say, “There goes crazy Chillow again; looks like he found more trash.”
But to Chillow, his precious finds are not trash. They are treasure.
“Look Mr. M. L. Kingfisher,” he might say. “There’s definitely a story behind this old toy.”
Or, “Hey Paul Mole—this is a pretty nice lure—can you use it?”
Or, after finding an especially good piece of jewelry, “See Fenton Frog? There are few things in life with a 100 % success rate—but this is certainly one of them.”
One time, Chillow was talking to Mrs. Cranberry. He said, “There’s so much treasure hidden in this quiet pond—enough for everyone if only they’d take the time to look.”
Mrs. Cranberry nodded thoughtfully. “And there is another hidden Treasure, more valuable than any other, which anyone can have, if they are only willing to look for it.”
Chillow cocked his head to one side. “That so? I love hidden treasure. What Treasure is that?”
The Cranberry Secret: Mrs. Cranberry was talking about the treasure found in Matthew 13:44. In this passage, Jesus said, “ ‘The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.’”
This world holds many treasures. Some of these treasures we have, and some we long to have. It can be easy to get too obsessed with these treasures. It can be easy to think that the world’s treasures are the most valuable. But there is another treasure which is far more valuable than anything on this earth. That treasure is the kingdom of heaven. Think about the man in the story. He sold everything he had to get that treasure, and Jesus said that that treasure was like the kingdom of heaven. That’s valuable treasure! So how do you get the kingdom of heaven?
Well, you can’t get it alone. This is because you are a sinner—a person who breaks God’s laws—and because of this you cannot get into Heaven to be with God because God is perfect. In fact, you deserve to be punished in Hell. But Jesus died on the cross to be punished for you. He was buried, but came alive again! Because Jesus did this, God can forgive your sin and clean it away so that you can be with Him in Heaven! That’s how you get this treasure!
There are many treasures in this world. Some are things you can hold like money or books. Others you can’t hold, like wanting to be famous or to be the best at something. Each day, we must ask ourselves which we will pursue—our earthly treasures, or God? Will we seek to please ourselves, or God?
Is there a treasure that you have or that you want that’s more important to you than God? Has anything become so important to you that you no longer have time to read your Bible and pray? Are you so busy dreaming of things or doing things that you forget about God? A good way to see if something is more important to you than God is to ask yourself what you would feel like if you lost that thing or that dream. Would it break your heart? It is okay to be sad when you lose things you love, but if God is most important to you, you can have hope even when you do lose those things. If you wanted something and God said no, would you be willing and happy to obey Him? If your hopes and dreams are not what God wants for your life, would you be willing to change them and do what God wants?
If not, stop and think. Because, as Jesus said in Matthew 13:44, there really isn’t anything more valuable than the kingdom of heaven. You could gain the whole world, and yet lose what is most important. If you were the most famous person on earth and got everything you wanted and collected all the treasure in the world, but you didn’t find the kingdom of heaven, what would it matter? You would die and lose it all. You would suffer forever in Hell and never even remember all your fine treasure. But the kingdom of heaven lasts forever, even after this world is destroyed. Many people miss this hidden treasure, but it is there and easy to find, if only we are willing to forget our earthly treasures for a moment and search God’s Word.
Chillow Kingfisher is always on the lookout for hidden treasure in the Cranberry Pond. But now, after talking to Mrs. Cranberry, Chillow has found his own special treasure, more valuable than anything he has found or ever will find. The kingdom of heaven is Chillow’s own treasure. And it can be yours too!
Artwork by Daniel and Joshua Venturo
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Used by permission. All rights reserved.
