“Don’t store up treasures on earth where they can be destroyed by moths and corruption, and where thieves can break in and steal them” (Matthew 6.19).
There’s a new store opening up on Main Street. It’s a curious place for a small town like Castle Rock, especially now that fall’s come and the tourists have gone. Not much market in a place like this one for an establishment that seems to cater in odd items, like some eclectic collector’s yard sale. But the sign in the door says “You won’t believe your eyes.” Almost tempts you to stop in and take a look.
Needful Things was written by Stephen King and published in October 1991. Full disclosure: I this is my favorite of King’s novels, one I re-read each October. When published it was billed as the “Last Castle Rock Story,” though that’s no longer true. Though the fictional town featured in The Dead Zone, Cujo, and that’s not too far from Shawshank Prison is a different place these days.
The setup of the book is what you read in the first paragraph above: a new store, it’s eccentric proprietor, and, of course, what’s for sale inside. This little venture really does seem to have something for everyone. Something they, perhaps, only dreamt of owning. And, if it’s what your heart desires, is there a price too high to pay?
King has described this story as a satire, a dark comedy poking at the greed and excess of the nineteen-eighties. Having re-read the novel several times, I can see both in this tale of desires and the petty grievances that can permeate a community. To me, it’s also a critique of the collector markets that have boomed and busted—from comic books to Beanie Babies—over the years, a reminder of how tenuous something’s value really is.
But to go back to what King had in mind, this is a story that gets to an aspect of greed that, in the nineteen-eighties and today, can get overlooked. There is, of course, the idea of capitalism run amok, becoming something superior to or perhaps replacing morality—the greatest good being getting all that you can. But this book is about the greed that’s closer to home, less flashy than a Rolls Royce and a ten bathroom mansion, but just as dangerous.
Jesus, in the verse above talks about treasure. The word maybe translates to something more like a treasure chest or vault (the word thesaurus derives from the Greek word here and meant something like a storehouse of words). It can be interpreted to be an injunction against wealth, which has led many Christians to vow lives of poverty. And, if you feel like any earthly money or possessions are a distraction, that makes sense as a spiritual choice.
But maybe it’s too many stories of pirates from my childhood, but treasure conjures up visions of chests buried in sand, full of bullion and jewelry that a crew has plowed the sea, faced lightning and wind to reach. It’s something that’s never spoken of to another soul that must be hoarded in secret as long as the claimant lives.
This is the sort of treasure Mr. Gaunt, the proprietor of the store provides: things too precious, too valuable to be spoken of aloud. Because they’re exactly the things some thief would want to steal. And thieves are everywhere, looking to take away our hearts desire. It’s the treasure Jesus warned us about.
There is nothing wrong with nice things, even pricey ones. We may treasure things found or, especially, given to us by someone we love. And yes, moth and corruption, time and wear do damage them. But these things are not the danger, it’s how we feel about them, if we share them or keep them behind lock and key.
It’s our emotions that determine where a treasure lies. Is it buried in the earth or inside our homes, or is it out in the open to show to those whom we love? Is it something we are selfish with, or willing to share? Do we think it’s a needful and necessary thing, or a means that invites joy into our lives?
Maybe the question brings us back around to that little Castle Rock store, the one where there are no price tags on the merchandise. One where we look and think about what we may be willing to pay, and question if it’s too high a price.
Beloved One, free us from greed so we might share our treasures.