Pearls of Wisdom

My name - my real name - is Margaret. Same as my mom, my grandmother and my daugher Marnie. A good name - in fact, a great name. I keep learning more and more about what it means to be Margaret.

Some time ago I learned that Margaret means pearl and I have ruminated on that for some time. Margaret is a person of value - a Pearl. And a pearl is found in an oyster - a miracle. I found this description onlin

"The formation of a natural pearl is almost a miracle: a fragment of something that the oyster accidentally ingests gets embedded somehow on the inside of its shell, and the oyster surrounds that something with countless layers of mother of pearl to produce a rare and precious jewel."
A pearl is formed as an object intrudes in the oyster. And the friction somehow creates a beautiful gem. There is something that speaks to me about this.
At the center of the pearl is the hurtful thing from which it gives protection.

Of course, in a parable Jesus said: "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man seeking goodly pearls: who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it." (Matt. 8: 45, 46)

In 1897 William Worcester wrote: "This is one of a series of parables which liken the kingdom of heaven to many different things. Each parable points out some special quality of heaven. And what quality of heaven does this parable reveal? Its peaceful security from all things that offend; the consciousness of our own weakness, and of the power of the Lord to save."

I marvel at the ways in which this spiritual journey leads me to face my areas of weakness and shaadow and as they become incorporated into my consciousness, there is a comfort and a peace and - maybe? - a beauty. But there is more

My name is Margaret, I am a pearl who does not wear much jewelry - a cross, a watch and a ring. (Note: I love it when other people are "bejeweled" !) What struck me recently was that as a pearl I am just one on a string - mostly I think of a pearl necklace with a series of pearls which look similar. And I thought at the churches I have served - I have been one of a series - each holding their place to do what God places before us. Recently someone told me that i had been her "seminal pastor" - that there were others that came before and since. And that is a gift - but often someone else was the seminal pastor and I was the one for a particular season.

I have found such comfort in this thought as well. My competitive nature seems to be fading as I am realizing that I am called to a role at a time for a season. As a pastor, as a grandmother, as a friend. I don't have to be the most memorable, the best, the outstanding. Just Margaret - just the pearl for the time.

So, I offer these pearls of wisdom. They seem universal to me but at the same time I have to say:
It is good to be Margaret!