A tradition Deanna and I have any time we visit the beach is to walk along the shore line and collect sea shells. Both of us, with pail in hand, searching for the perfect shell. At each find, we stop and show each other what we have retrieved, admire the beauty, examine the imperfection, comment on the perfection, and place the shell in our pail for a judging ceremony later in the day.
Without fail, I am reminded by Deanna that every shell, broken, chipped or heavenly formed, are all perfect as they are and none of them should be discarded. They are all little pieces of magic, treasures from the sea, all different in their own way. Each one just as important as the last. And this is when I realize, she is right. If only we could take this lesson and carry it into our dealing with each other.
We, as humans, are all broken and chipped in our own way, but yet we are all heavenly formed and perfect just as we are. Instead of seeing the brokenness of each other, we should appreciate the imperfection which makes us all unique.
I know what you are thinking, easier said than done, right? Agreed, but if we stop for a moment, pull our compassion out of our pockets and shine our grace bright, we can admire the beauty in everyone. Just as the shells are imperfect yet perfect, we can appreciate each other as is, which would lead to a more accepting society.
(In case you are wondering, the judging ceremony goes the same way as the discovery of the shells. We have to keep every single shell and take them all home; you can’t leave any of them behind.)
