Words unearthed from the desert sand speak to us across the millennia about thieves stealing our lives, and a hidden pearl.

Recitation:

Choral:

Enduring Treasure

The name for goodness is applied
to what is not good.
Words become deceitful.
They alienate with simulations and appearances,
and make a free person into a slave.

Seek for yourself an enduring treasure,
where moths cannot devour

Be vigilant toward the world.
Strengthen yourselves with great energy.
Bind to yourself what was from the beginning.

When you are persecuted down into the depths of the heart,
be awake.
There is a place they will never find.

Seek for yourself an enduring treasure,
where moths cannot devour

Make strangers your own,
in their differences.
Make an offering of your life.
This offering is imprisoned
by those who steal life for themselves.

When the fruit is ripe,
ready to burst,
the harvester comes quickly,
sickle in hand,
and takes it.

Seek for yourself an enduring treasure,
where moths cannot devour

William Britten

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Phrases in the song are taken from the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Philip.

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