One day a young man was standing in the middle of
the town proclaiming that he had the most beautiful
heart in the whole valley. A large crowd gathered
and they all admired his heart for it was perfect.
There was not a mark or a flaw in it. Yes, they all
agreed it truly was the most beautiful heart they
had ever seen. The young man was very proud and
boasted more loudly about his beautiful heart.
One day a young man was standing in the middle of
the town proclaiming that he had the most beautiful
heart in the whole valley. A large crowd gathered
and they all admired his heart for it was perfect.
There was not a mark or a flaw in it. Yes, they all
agreed it truly was the most beautiful heart they
had ever seen. The young man was very proud and
boasted more loudly about his beautiful heart.
Suddenly, an old man appeared at the front of the
crowd and said, "Why your heart is not nearly as
beautiful as mine."
The crowd and the young man looked at the old man's
heart. It was beating strongly, but full of scars,
it had places where pieces had been removed and
other pieces put in, but they didn't fit quite right
and there were several jagged edges. In fact, in
some places there were deep gouges where whole
pieces were missing.
The people stared -- how can he say his heart is
more beautiful, they thought?
The young man looked at the old man's heart and saw
its state and laughed.
"You must be joking," he said. "Compare your heart
with mine, mine is perfect and yours is a mess of
scars and tears."
"Yes," said the old man, "yours is perfect looking
but I would never trade with you. You see, every
scar represents a person to whom I have given my
love - I tear out a piece of my heart and give it to
them, and often they give me a piece of their heart
which fits into the empty place in my heart, but
because the pieces aren't exact, I have some rough
edges, which I cherish, because they remind me of
the love we shared. Sometimes I have given pieces
of my heart away, and the other person hasn't
returned a piece of his heart to me. These are the
empty gouges -- giving love is taking a chance.
Although these gouges are painful, they stay open,
reminding me of the love I have for these people
too, and I hope someday they may return and fill the
space I have waiting. So now do you see what true
beauty is?"
The young man stood silently with tears running down
his cheeks. He walked up to the old man, reached
into his perfect young and beautiful heart, and
ripped a piece out. He offered it to the old man
with trembling hands.
The old man took his offering, placed it in his
heart and then took a piece from his old scarred
heart and placed it in the wound in the young man's
heart. It fit, but not perfectly, as there were some
jagged edges.
The young man looked at his heart, not perfect
anymore but more beautiful than ever, since love
from the old man's heart flowed into his.
They embraced and walked away side by side.
~~Author: Unknown~~
