I went to a baptism in Oristano on the island of Sardegna. It was a beautiful day and the sun was shining. The baptism was done in the sea and afterwards one of the little girls who was there found a starfish and showed it to everyone. Because I've never lived close to the sea, I thought it was pretty neat.
When it came time to leave Sardegna, I was at the airport waiting for the plane when I wandered into a gift shop and saw a basket with starfish for sale. I thought one of those would make a cute souvenir and reminder of the baptism in the sea. I looked at each one and each of them had a little imperfection--usually just the tip broken off. In the end, I didn't even buy one because none of them was perfect.
As I've thought about it, I've come to regret my decision not to buy one. It's not that I can't live without a starfish. It's that I let a tiny little imperfection keep me from enjoying something that was otherwise perfect. I've seen other starfish for sale since then, but I've never bought one because they don't have the same significance as the one I passed by. It makes me sad that I was so judgmental and unable to see the real beauty instead of the little flaw.
People are that way, too. We all have flaws and imperfections, but Heavenly Father loves us anyway. He doesn't toss us aside because we aren't perfect. I've learned a valuable lesson from an imperfect starfish. From now on, I think I will love starfish because of their imperfections.
No comments:
Post a Comment