Labyrinth, pearl, and greengrocer

Matthew 13, Simone Weil, and Václav Havel

There is a pair of parables in Matthew 13:44-46 generally understood to be a single story told two ways, one of which I was always sure I understood, the other of which continually confounded me. NIV:

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought th…