hidden image

We are Pearls

P. A. Joseph P. A. Joseph
11 Dec 2023

It is an exciting reality to feel that we are all pearls. Pearl is a beautiful thing made or formed in nature. There are many explanations for its formation. It has been discovered that sometimes irritants enter the oyster's body and accumulate, and eventually, a smooth pearl is made/formed. Oysters have a crusty and rough exterior and a flat and oval shape. When an oyster is fully grown, it breaks itself or is broken by the people and the pearls are collected from inside. Pearls are exquisite, sometimes of different colours. They are costly. Some would equate the earth that we live on with an oyster. We are made/formed here on earth. The World is our oyster! 

However, our position is that of the oyster, giving birth to pearls and being the pearl itself. It is like being akin to both the mother and the child simultaneously. It is a beautiful reality to reflect on.

Scientifically speaking, pearls are made of calcium carbonate. The earth’s crust is covered with it. The pearl is formed by continuous friction. This way, we can say that the pearl’s beauty is made from insult. Insults hurt, but here it hurt for betterment. Artificial pearls are manufactured worldwide. The pearls made this way are cheaper but still undergo the same process. 

The pearl must first accumulate more grit and then be ground and polished. It has to undergo this process millions of times before it develops into the final product. 

Similarly, we must accumulate the lessons we receive daily and then be ground and polished through suffering. We must also emulate the qualities of an oyster, sheltering and preparing a place for pearls to grow.

You are in a growing mountain of fortunes! Once, a semi-blind farm labourer was digging his little portion of land. While cutting the hard earth, he was stuck with hard yellow stone; someone had to make him realize that the whole little plot of land was gold! He became a wealthy millionaire!!!

At times, we cannot see the right thing with our perspective. At times like these, we need to see with our minds and hearts, not our eyes. To see mentally is to think, to contemplate. In this way, seeing is lovely as it goes beyond the world of materials. From this perspective, look around; acres of pearls and diamonds may be in your courtyard.

We must remind ourselves daily that our life is an oyster and keep producing and shaping lovely pearls!

Recent Posts

In a 1947 address at the University of Allahabad, Jawaharlal Nehru envisioned universities as temples of humanism, reason and truth. Today, shrinking public funding, rampant privatisation, ideological
apicture G Ramachandram
02 Mar 2026
At Rashtrapati Bhavan, replacing Edwin Lutyens' bust with C Rajagopalachari is framed as decolonisation, yet, in truth, it reflects a broader politics of renaming under Narendra Modi—symbolism over su
apicture A. J. Philip
02 Mar 2026
Gen-Z call to make leaders rely on public schools and hospitals underscores youth priorities—education, health care, and jobs—amid rising freebies, inequality, and weak public investment. The Supreme
apicture Jacob Peenikaparambil
02 Mar 2026
Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil's micro-minority appeal coincides with Kerala's delayed response to the Justice JB Koshy Commission, whose recommendations aim to address internal Christian disparitie
apicture John Dayal
02 Mar 2026
The All India Catholic Union warns of rising violence, legal curbs, and social exclusion targeting Christians across the Northeast, citing unrest in Manipur and enforcement of the Arunachal Pradesh Fr
apicture IC Correspondent
02 Mar 2026
The 2002 Gujarat violence, following the Sabarmati Express tragedy, became one of independent India's darkest chapters. Allegations of state complicity, contested investigations, and enduring survivor
apicture Cedric Prakash
02 Mar 2026
In his second encyclical, Laudato Si': On Care for Our Common Home (2015), Pope Francis offers a sustained moral critique of consumerism, unrestrained economic expansion, and ecological indifference.
apicture Joseph Maliakan
02 Mar 2026
As nuclear powers like the United States and Russia modernise vast arsenals while policing others, critics decry a double standard embedded in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The world risks bec
apicture P. A. Chacko
02 Mar 2026
O Jurist Dr. Gregory Stanton, You talked of genocide in ten slow steps I come from a land Where we have been walking those steps For six thousand years Without shoes, Without dignity, Without
apicture Dr Suryaraju Mattimalla
02 Mar 2026
The robotic dog is not the real problem. It is the comfort we now have with make-believe. It is the applause that follows every convenient explanation.
apicture Robert Clements
02 Mar 2026