Once upon a time. . .

… there was a king who ruled a small kingdom. The only remarkable thing about the kingdom was a great perfect diamond that had been in the royal family for generations. The diamond was kept on public display and people came from far and wide to admire and gaze at it . . .

. . . Then one day a soldier came and told the king that although no one had touched it, for it was guarded night and day, the diamond was cracked.

Immediately the king summoned all the jewelers of the land; one after another they inspected the diamond. To the great sadness of everyone all the jewelers came to the same conclusion – the diamond was useless; irredeemably flawed.

Then out of nowhere there came an old man who claimed to be a jeweler. He asked to see the diamond. After examining it he looked up, and confidently told the king, “I can fix it. In fact I can make it better than it was before. Give me a week and I’ll have it done.” The king was leery, but he gave the old man a room in the castle along with all the tools, food and drink he needed. It was a long week . . .

At the end of the week the old man appeared and put the stone in the king’s hand. The king couldn’t believe his eyes. It was magnificent! The old man had fixed it and made it even better than before. He had used the crack that ran through the middle of the stone as a stem and carved an intricate full-blown rose, complete with thorns and leaves. It was exquisite.

The king was so overjoyed that he offered the old man half his kingdom. He had taken the flawed, useless stone and made it a priceless thing of beauty. But the old man refused in front of everyone saying, “All I did was give a little love, care and attention to something that was wounded and cracked at its heart. The radiance and beauty was always there, it was just hidden by an apparent flaw.”

~Megan McKenna in “Parables”
Quoted in Spiritual Literacy
Edited by: Federic and Mary Ann Burssat

Isn’t it interesting how our flaws and brokenness become the raw materials that draw forth our true beauty? I can think back on my own life and remember a number of occasions when I felt particularly “broken and flawed” and someone appeared “out of nowhere” offering a little love, care and attention; drawing out the beauty and value that was always there. Each of these experiences was  a transformational turning points, but the most profound of all these experiences was the one when “I” showed up, out of nowhere, giving myself the love, care and attention I needed.

When we love and care for ourselves with all of our flaws and fractures, doing the same for others becomes a natural way of living. Love can truly heal the world and then all of life is a joy.

By: Rick Nichols