years ago

an old friend

presented me with this.

the gift of a pretty shell,

but why?

my smile

must have betrayed my confusion.

my friend

looked me directly in the eye

and said,

‘it reminds me of you.  natural, earthy, beautiful, and sharp when pushed too hard in the wrong direction.’

i remember being a little offended at the time.

even a little hurt that his eloquent explaination ended with me looking badly.

but i appreciate now just how right he was.

and it remains, all this time later, one of my favorite gifts.

‘gift’ taken from 1:17 in the book of james.