A young man stood on a street corner, opened his jacket and said, “Look at my heart, my perfect, perfect heart.” A crowd gathered, impressed by his perfect heart. They stood there in awe of a heart without any blemish, complete in every way. A man pushed his way to the front to get a closer look. “Son,” he said, “that’s not a perfect heart. If you want to see a perfect heart you need to see mine.” With that, he opened his coat to reveal an old, knotted and quite ugly heart. It was full of bumps and holes. Pieces of it had broken off here and there. The crowd began to laugh. The old man raised his hand and began to speak. “See this bump? This is about my family. Growing up was simple and fun. But this scratch is from when kids made fun of me in school because I was somewhat poor. And this bump? I met my sweetheart and we got married. Ah, and this hole…this is when I was in the army and watched some of my comrades get shot down.” The crowd was listening intently. “See these scratches and indentations? These are from when I lost my parents in a car accident. And this bump? We were blessed with children whom we loved and cherished. This bump? We bought a house and made a real home where laughter could be heard. This hole? My wife was diagnosed with cancer. This piece that broke off…that’s when she passed on. It was a sad time in our lives.” He continued on and described many other bumps and holes and scratches on his heart. When he finished the crowd was silent. “You see, son, yours is not a perfect heart, for it has not yet lived; it has not yet been touched with joy and tears and love and laughter, pain and anguish and hardship and celebration. Only when you are an old man like me will you be able to look upon a gnarled and battered heart and be able to say, “yes, now that is a perfect heart.” Each of us has, as it were, a heart in process. It bears all of our experiences, both wonderful and challenging. Listen to your heart. Are you on your way to perfect?
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