Empty Shells

My family and I went for a walk yesterday through beautiful golden fields bathed in late afternoon sunlight.  The weather was warm, a light breeze was blowing and we were breathing deep in the good things God has given us.

Namely each other and his beautiful world.

At one point we were scanning the ground for any late-fallen pecans and gathering a few here and there.

I kept tossing them back as I found holes in the shells, knowing that if anything was to be found inside, it was probably a wiggling worm.  I’ll pass, thank you.

One of my daughters didn’t understand, however, and clutched so tightly to her pecan I thought she’d never let it go.

I kept telling her it had a hole and offering her a shell without one, heavy with the weight of the meat inside it.

But no.  She wanted HER pecan, the one she had found.  And she would have none of the good one I was offering.

And, as I stood there watching her as the sun set, I realized that we start early.

This claiming gifts for ourselves and deciding they’re better than what’s being held out for us.

We cling to what’s only good on the outside, preferring an empty, rotting shell to something full and healthy.

And, often, we don’t even know the difference.

Until we let go, that is.

Because when she finally released her grip on the pecan she was holding and gingerly grasped the one I was giving, she felt the difference immediately.  How could she not?

One nut was empty and hollow.  The other was full of fruit.

There’s no comparison.

But it takes trusting the giver to grab hold of the gifts.