STORY—-THE SUPREME GIFT
A five-year-old girl went to the supermarket with her mother. There, she saw a pearl necklace. She insisted her mother buy it for her.
“This looks pretty, but it’s expensive, and it’s just a cheap plastic necklace,” her mother said.
“I’ll ask your dad to buy you a real, original pearl necklace for your birthday… Don’t want this one, darling,” her mother said.
But the girl cried and stubbornly insisted on buying that plastic pearl necklace.
That pearl necklace became her most favorite possession.
She wore it and kept it with her wherever she went.
She wore it to school, when playing with friends, and even when sleeping.
Her mother told her repeatedly that wearing a plastic necklace around her neck could cause an allergic reaction and change the color of her skin, but the girl wouldn’t listen. She never wanted to be parted from it.
The girl’s father was very loving. Every day, he would tell his child a story before she went to sleep. One day, after finishing a story, he asked, “My dear… do you love me?”
“Yes, Dad, I love you very much.”
“Then, will you give me your pearl necklace?”
“Oh… no, Dad… You can take something else… You can even take my Pinky doll… but I won’t give you the pearl necklace, Dad…” she said.
“It’s okay, little one…” the father replied with a smile.
Another day, he asked again, “My dear… do you love me?”
“Yes, Dad, I love you very much.”
“Then, will you give me your pearl necklace?” he asked again.
“Oh… no, Dad… You can take something else… If you want, you can take my horse doll… but please don’t ask for the pearl necklace, Dad… I won’t give you that one,” the girl firmly refused this time too.
Again, with the same smile, the father said, “It’s okay, little one.”
A few days later, one day, when the father came to tell a story at night… the girl, with some hesitation, said, “Here you go, Dad…” and opened a small box, taking out her favorite pearl necklace and placing it in her father’s hands. It was old and some of the pearls were broken.
Taking it with one hand, the father took out a blue velvet box from his other pocket. Inside was a beautiful necklace made of real pearls.
He had always kept it with him. He was waiting for the child to give him her cheap necklace… As soon as she gave it to him, he gave her the real necklace.
“It was to give this to you, my dear… that I asked for that plastic necklace every day,” the father said.
This father is none other than God, who created us all.
And that child is us.
Yes. Just like this, we too cling tightly to some cheap things in our lives and are not ready to let go.
If we let go of such fake things, God will bless us with a true, eternal heaven.
Our bad habits, actions, bad friendships, relationships… whatever they may be, might be deeply intertwined with us. Even though we know they harm us, they can be hard to let go of.
But better things are waiting for us… To get such something excellent… we must let go of the fake, cheap things.
God, who is the embodiment of love, never takes anything from us without giving us something better in return.