the pearl

 I love wearing pearls!  There is something about them that catches my eye.  Maybe it is their understated beauty: not flashy or sparkly like a diamond but unique and solid and pure.  For me, the fact that they come from a living thing is an added bonus.  

Oysters, clams, and mussels can all produce pearls.  It's a process that starts with irritation which would probably be classified as pain if the animals had a nervous system.  The mollusk itself is what we eat, but there is a layer just inside of the shell called the mantle.  The mantle secretes a substance called nacre which lines the inside of the shell and allows the shell to grow with the oyster.  The shell must be open so that the animal can eat, and in any water environment, a myriad of other materials can flow in at the same time.  If one of those foreign substances gets between the mantle and the shell, a pearl will be formed as the oyster covers it with layers of nacre to stop the irritation.

Pearls can be artificially stimulated when a pearl harvester opens the shell and makes a small cut in the mantle tissue, inserting an irritant in salt water or doing nothing else in fresh water.  Human caused pearl formations are called cultured pearls.  

I love wearing pearls because they are a symbol of strength and surviving to me.  Pearls come from facing the hard things in life and turning them into something beautiful.  Life can be difficult and painful as we go about the tasks of living in an evil world, but God can use those times to make something beautiful in us...something pure and strong and unique each time.  When the devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy, God still gives abundant life somehow.  God can work in all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.  And He can make beautiful pearls as He protects us.