PREMSWAROOP MINISTRIES

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.