St Patrick's Day is on Tuesday March 17th, and brings us images of all things green, three and four leaf clovers, and fables of leprechauns, rainbows, pots of gold, and a wonderful serenade by Kermit the Frog. Let's explore some fables: The Pot of Gold at the End of the Rainbow It most traditions, Leprechauns are tricksters, and the taunting of a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow is in itself, a trick. Perhaps all of us have a thing, where we can state, "if I had this, or if I became more of that or was more this . . . I would be happy." Contained in that what if statement is a direction arrow to our disillusion, and if we are not careful, that which places us on an endless elusive chase. This chase will consume our time (our most precious commodity), and our energy. Instead of the end of the rainbow, we may reach the end of our days, always having chased for something that we thought would make our lives "rich," but in reality stole the wealth of our time, our energy, and our peace. The story of the Leprechaun and the pot of gold offers us to sit with the discomfort of the "if only . . ." statement. It asks us to weather the rainy days, the storms in our life, and gives us a reminder that even the difficult is accompanied by light, and the sun will shine again. It asks us to sit instead of chase, and be with the collateral beauty of it all. It also asks us to remember that true riches are not outside of us. Most cultures have a version of the following storytelling, which suggests the real riches are hidden within the quality of our compassion, our kindness, and the way we extend and encompass love to others and to ourselves. Real riches, are within the humanity and humility of our human heart . . . The Story of Where God Hid the Treasure At the beginning of the world, God gathered the angels. “I am going to create human beings,” God said,“and I must hide the greatest treasure somewhere so they will spend their lives searching for it.” The angels began offering suggestions.