I have a pair of “Hey Dude” shoes, and I love them. They’re easy to slip on and get out the door. I especially like wearing them when I’m going out to walk the dogs. Trying to control two dogs on leashes while putting on your shoes is quite challenging unless you have a pair of “Hey Dude” shoes. At times, I have slipped on my shoes, and without knowing it, a small pebble hopped into one of them. After a few steps, I realized what had happened, and I could either deal with the pebble, or remove it. Dealing with it means I put up with the pain it is causing until I return home, assess the damage and remove the irritating pebble. Unlike an oyster, my shoe cannot transform a pebble into a pearl. This got me thinking about pearls, and how they’re made. It also brought to mind a play by Shakespeare entitled, “The Merry Wives of Windsor.” In the play there is a soldier named Pistol who says, “The world is my oyster”. It was an expression of optimism that a person could take advantage of the opportunities in life and shape their own destiny. This looks different for every person, and it’s not always an easy path to follow, but if we can be optimistically hopeful that everything in life can be used for our good, then we can all enjoy the pearls that come from our experiences of life.

Just think about the pearls that are made inside an oyster. It’s one of the many ways that God reveals to us why we have difficulties in life. It is only by facing the irritants of life, and creatively overcoming hardships that we, like pearls, can grow. Pearls are made in chaotically messy circumstances. They are in oysters at the bottom of an ocean or river under the filthy muddy muck. Then, a threat enters their shell. Something as small as a grain of sand invades the oyster. This is when the magic begins! The oyster smothers the threat with a miraculous substance called “mother-of-pearl”. This substance is lighter, but stronger than concrete. Layer after layer, the oyster covers the threat, and before you know it, you have a precious pearl. Each one is so unique, and not one of them is exactly the same. They may be very similar in size, but their special design from the inside out is one-of-a-kind. Marilynne Paspaley shares a fascinating fact that “the pearl is the only gem that is made by a living creature…it represents life, as every other gem is made by the passing of time and decay. That’s possibly one of the reasons why we find them so mesmerizing”.

The story of the pearl reminds me of the neighbors we serve. They bring the threats they face to Crossroads. We surround them with an incredible covering of relief through our provision of food, shelter, and support services to stabilize the threat. But, more importantly, we introduce them to the miraculous substance that is contained in the kind of love we have for our neighbors. Layer after layer, we cover the most vulnerable, traumatic experiences in their lives with unconditional love, and before you know it, you have a precious pearl. We have witnessed thousands of messy circumstances transform into beautiful pearls through the work we do at Crossroads. We can provide a lot of great services, but if they’re not done in love, the pearly shine won’t exist. We want everyone who walks through the doors of Crossroads to feel the transformative power of love as they shop for groceries, meet with staff members to figure things out, or interact with volunteers who are helping them through a tough patch in life. We feel honored to be adorned with a necklace of pearls that have been transformed through the power of love.