A Very Special Pearl

Faith (in its truest and perfect form) can be likened to a very special pearl…a pearl so perfect, prized and beautiful that it is hidden in one very special oyster resting on a sea bed alongside a million other oysters scattered about.

Given the slim odds of ever finding this treasure, would you not rejoice with delirious joy upon finding it after days, weeks, months, and (perhaps) years of laborious searching? Would not the find be even sweeter if just before the moment of doing so, you were so tired and weary from the search that you practically were at the point of losing all hope of ever finding it? Finally, would you not want to share this treasure with as many in the world as you can manage to share it with?

It took decades of seeking before I found my true and unbreakable faith. I now have my treasure, and with it, the inner peace to be able to face death should it come knocking at any moment. My dear brothers and sisters, I know how hard you also seek for your own pearl of true faith. Although I am deeply aware of the reality that you and you alone must find it, I secretly wish that somehow your search might be made a bit easier by my sharing with you the foundations of my found pearl of faith.

Why is the pearl (from among all the other precious gems) the most fitting metaphor for faith? This is because the pearl is borne from a single and irritating speck of sand that lodges itself inside the oyster and which the oyster is powerless to remove but has the power to coat with layers and layers of its ‘saliva’ to seal off the irritation.

We can liken the irritating speck of sand in the oyster to those irritants in our lives that we cannot seem to get away from or get rid of. Though these irritants bring pain and discomfort to us, we have the power to respond to these by ‘coating’ these with acts of true love (we all have true love in our souls). A coat of true love is like the coat of the pearl…it breaks light to reveal the splendor of all the colors within. Through the years of our applying coats of love to the ‘irritants’ in our lives, we build upon the beautiful pearl within us as it slowly grows into the true faith that we seek.

How is this so? This is so because true love is God. The more acts of true love we do, the more we come to truly know God deep in our hearts. True love is the foundation of true faith. The only true and effective way to teach others about God and how they can develop an unwavering faith in Him is by giving them as much true love (love without conditions, requirements or expectations of reciprocity) as we can muster to give.

Jesus taught us who God is and what God is like through the unconditional love that He faithfully gives us. This despite our imperfect state, many failings and lack of faith in Him.

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