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The Most Beautiful Heart
One day a 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 man was very proud and
boasted more loudly about his beautiful heart.
Suddenly, an other man appeared at the front of the
crowd and said, " Your heart is not nearly as
beautiful as mine."
The crowd and the 1st man looked at the 2nd 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 1st man looked at the 2nd 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 2nd 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 1st man stood silently with tears running down
his cheeks. He walked up to the 2nd man, reached
into his perfect looking beautiful heart, and
ripped a piece out. He offered it to the 2nd man
with trembling hands.
The 2nd man took his offering, placed it in his
heart and then took a piece from his scarred
heart and placed it in the wound in the 1st man's
heart. It fit, but not perfectly, as there were some
jagged edges.
The 1st man looked at his heart, not perfect
anymore but more beautiful than ever, since love
from the 2nd man's heart flowed into his.
The standing silly ppl embraced and walked away.
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