Don't Throw A Pearl At a Pig. You Could Put An Eye Out.

Jesus said, "Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces."

I don't really know why Jesus would think someone would throw a pearl at a pig. Common sense would tell you that it would probably make the pig mad, and it would chase you. I've done some research about pigs, and it turns out that thinner pigs are more nervous than fatter ones. The leaner pigs actually have a stress gene that makes them fearful, agitated and more likely to fight. Maybe they are just hungry. In this scenario, they just want some food, and you are trying to get them to appreciate and respond to a pearl. When they realize it is not food, they get seriously ticked off, and make food out of you. I don't know if this is what Jesus was thinking when he said it, but it is an amusing thing to think about.

When I was in grade school, I learned how a pearl is made. They told us that a pearl is formed when a tiny speck of dirt enters into the oysters shell. The oyster then covers the speck of dirt with a smooth substance that eventually forms a pearl. They were wrong. A pearl does not actually begin with speck of dirt. It begins with a parasite that burrows it's way into the mollusk's shell and into the mantle tissue. The natural defensive reaction of the oyster is to cover the intruder with a membrane known as a pearl sac. It keeps layering the pearl sac until the parasite can no longer irritate the oyster's tissue. I guess if you think of it that way, a pearl is a tomb; a tiny, beautiful tomb.

A parasite is a living organism which is dependent on it's host for life functions. A parasite rarely kills it's host, but rather depletes the host of it's nutrients, and weakens it as a whole. The oyster's natural immune system has to work very hard to isolate and "trap" the parasite inside the pearl sac. The outcome is something we value greatly, and consider to be expensive and beautiful. I'm no scientist, but there would seem to be some logic that could be applied here. I would assume that the bigger and stronger the parasite, the bigger the pearl would be, and the longer it would take to make. The oyster would have to work that much harder to cover the trespasser with more of the membrane, resulting in a bigger pearl. It wouldn't happen instantly. It would take a very long time, and it would be difficult. In this scenario, the oyster doesn't know that it is creating something that will be of great value to someone. It is simply trying to survive.

In a metaphorical sense, every trial that I have survived has become a pearl. Every dream that I have labored to keep alive has become a pearl. A pearl is a complex and complicated thing. Not everyone can understand or appreciate the beauty of it. Some people may want to exploit it and wear it around their neck like a prize. Others will see it's value, and try to profit from it. Others won't get it at all, and will throw it in the mud. I am working on a few pearls in my life. I have to remind myself that some of them are just not ready yet. Some are ready, but they just haven't yet found the right situation to be appreciated. Those are the ones I have to hold close and protect with fierce tenacity.

I believe in destiny. I also believe that destiny can change with every choice we make, but it never dies. The most beautiful, valuable and important things are born out of great hardship and suffering. They take a long time to form, and are not always comprehended. I love what Bob Dylan once said about destiny: "It’s a feeling you have that you know something about yourself that nobody else does. The picture you have in your mind of what you are about will come true. It’s kind of a thing you kind of have to keep to your own self ‘cause it’s a fragile feeling and you put it out there and somebody will kill it and so it's best to keep that all inside." Pigs don't care about pearls, and that's okay because pearls don't exist for pigs. A pearl isn't any less valuable just because a pig tramples on it.