The Perfect 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
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