The most beautiful heart

[gaelic_lass]

There is a story that has passed through my family for many years. I don't know how many of you may have heard this tale, but another topic on friendship made me think of it. I hope you enjoy it. To make this a valid topic of conversation, after reading this story please tell us how beautiful you think YOUR heart is, and what you could do to make it better.

The Most Beautiful Heart

Once, long ago, there was a young man who had a perfect heart. There was not a single flaw on it. It shone in his chest red and glimmering with hope and beauty. All the people who saw it admired his beautiful heart and spoke of it everywhere.

One day the man was walking through a strange village and again people were admiring his perfect heart. An old man looked at it and merely grunted. When the people asked him why he did not acclaim the beauty of this perfect heart, the old man simply answered that his own heart was FAR more beautiful than this young man's perfect heart.

Now the villagers could hardly believe that this old mans heart could possibly be mroe beautiful than that perfect red heart. They demanded to see this beautiful heart, so that they could judge for themselves. The man nodded and solemnly opened his chest to reveal his heart.

The heart was lumpy, with pieces missing. It seemed to be made up of peices from many different hearts patched together here and there. In places there were gaps of missing pieces, in others there was an extra piece here or there. Some pieces were bright and red, while others were old and grey. The villagers gasped in shock at the sight of this odd old heart.

"How can you POSSIBLY say this heart is more beautiful?" they demanded angrily. His heart was ugly to they eye, and hardly the shiny red beauty of the young man's perfect flawless heart.

"My heart is the story of my life, and my loves." The old man answered. "when I meet someone and come to love them, I remove a piece of my heart and give it to them. If they love me, they give me a pice of theirs. Sometimes love given is not returned. This causes extra pieces here, or empty places there. But each piece is a piece of me and of the love I have shared in my life. My heart is ugly to you because it has known so much joy and love in my life. To me, my heart is beautiful, for it carries within it bits of those that I have loved that are gone, as well of the pieces of those that are still with me."

The people were silent as they looked again at the old man's heart. Each tiny piece was another life touched. The young man looked down at his own perfect heart and saw the emptiness there. His heart was perfect for it had never been risked, and therefore never broken. He reached into his chest and removed a piece of his heart and handed it to the old man. The man took it and gave the young man back a piece of his own heart.

"My heart was not beautiful" the young man said softly. "But I will share it much more freely now, and someday I hope it will be as beautiful as yours."
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