Scars… the pearls of life

Pearls are found in oysters, and their formation is a natural process that occurs in living, shelled mollusks.  In fact, this process is an oyster’s method of protecting itself against foreign bodies, of keeping itself healthy.

Pearls have long been used in jewelry because of their attractive appearance, and can be formed in both fresh and seawater. Pearl oysters and freshwater mussels make up the majority of pearls that are sold. The inside of the shell is coated with a substance called nacre, which creates a pearl.

Pearls are byproducts of irritants, when a parasite or grain of sand enters the shell. In response the oyster secretes layers of nacre that coat this threat and cancel out any harmful effects. As a result, a beautiful pearl is formed. Oysters that face no potential injury do not produce pearls, because a pearl is essentially a healed wound.

Pearls come in a variety of colors: white, black, grey, red, blue and green. Most can be found anywhere in the world, but black pearls are native to the South Pacific. They are the rarest of all pearls – they are one in ten thousand.

The world is full of scars. I am not referring to visible scars, but to those that are invisible. People are marked by them throughout the course of their lives, and frequently cause even more through their words and actions.

Jesus’ body was beaten and wounded, no spot on His body was left unharmed: hands, feet, head… But those scars are marks of His love for us, and we should not open the wounds that the Lord Jesus has already closed. Let us be the pearls of life.

With the help of Silvia Bordin