A parasite can enter your soul from a very young age, but with a smothering of truth, it can become the building block of a pearl.
It wasn’t many words, but they were enough for a parasite to enter the soul and take up space.
There it sat and fed.
It grew and took up space.
It spread talons into the life stream of the small child.
A little microscopic parasitic worm had tunnelled through.
At that stage, they were but a child, but now they were an adult.
The parasite had continued to live and breed.
Pearls and parasites
How is a pearl created?
I used to think it was because a piece of sand and then beautiful layers of pearl would be formed over and around it.
But no, it’s a parasite.
The creation of a pearl begins with a microscopically small parasite drilling through the shell of the oyster.
The majority of natural pearls are formed in oysters as a response to a parasitic intruder. Parasitic organisms like drill worms will burrow through the hard shell of an oyster and trigger its mantle to secrete a barrier around the biological interloper. How Do Oysters Make Pearls?

This multi-layering eventually forms a beautiful pearl.
What you see, when you look at the beautiful colours of the pearl, are layers and layers of self-protection.
The little ones
I remember talking to someone who, as a child, had been sexually abused. He was a little one. A child. A parasite had crept into his soul and taken up residence.
Then there was someone who with an intellectual disability had been made use of another’s pleasure. Another soul, another parasite.
I could go on and on with stories where a parasite had been introduced and never suffocated with love and truth.
Jesús describes children as little ones. Matthew 18:6
Ones that don’t yet have the self-defence mechanisms we have as adults.
We are to protect the little ones.
I have met too many adult ‘little ones’ who have parasites in the soul.
Whether by evil intention or by simply living in a broken world, parasites have found a home.
What do you do with your parasites?
I remember when I farmed sheep, that we would regularly have to medicate our animals to kill any parasites that had made their way into the body.
The parasites would eventually drain the whole life out of the animal. It would be killed from within.
I have had some parasites enter my soul at times.
Little grievances, hurts, cuts, and scars.
With these, I have had to make a choice.
Do I feed them or do I starve them?
Do I continue to feed them with lies? (they like that)
Or do I suffocate them with truth and use them as a building block for a pearl.
Under the mantle
Under the mantle
Sweep over it with your mantle
Envelope it with your love
Don’t let it burrow in
Take from me your hope
Make something good
Out of its hideous task
Layer the little worm
Suffocate with pearly glass
Layers of love
Layers of self respect
Layers of truth
Over lay plates of pearl
Rounded I will see
Wisdom pearls created be
Not the hard sharp angles of a bitter soul
But smooth, fine, and parasite free
I surrender to the work
Of the mantle of a man
Who walked this parasitic place
Pearls of wisdom in his hand
Come cover over my every hurt
Transform them in to something good
Pearls of beauty gifts for thee
All contained under shelly hood
One day I will present my pearls
Beauty on you to adorn
Wedding gown
Wedding feast
Silent love kisses oh so sweet
Barry Pearman
Quotes to consider
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A good journey begins with knowing where we are and being willing to go somewhere else. Richard Rohr
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Changing one’s own behavior is a much more promising strategy than insisting on change from the other. Terrence Real
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Yes, “the truth will set you free” as Jesus says (John 8:32), but first it tends to make you miserable. Richard Rohr
- Often times we’re looking for nice clear linear logical explanations about why we feel this compulsion and need to give efforts to something. There might not be any explanations other than something within you that says if I don’t head in this direction something within me will die. Rob Bell
- A vision we give to others of who and what they could become has power when it echoes what the Spirit has already spoken into their souls. Larry Crabb Connecting
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Man lives by affirmation even more than by bread. Victor Hugo Les Misérables
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Real encouragement occurs when words are spoken from a heart of love to another’s recognized fear. Larry Crabb
- True beauty is measured by the number of pearls within you, not those around your neck.
Questions to answer
- Can you name a parasite that has been turned into a pearl?
- What layers of truth do you need to keep having to re-apply so as the pearl can grow? e.g. ‘I am Loved. I am Held, I am Known’
- Have you seen ‘pearls’ in others? How have they been formed?
Formation exercise
- If you are able to find a pearl, feel its weight and texture. Focus on the colours and the way light reflects off the surface. Consider the million of layers making up the beauty. What does the pearl want to give you?
Further reading
True Beauty Is Under The Tarnish
Are You Comfortable With Beauty?
How to Create New Rope Bridges in our Thinking
By Fabian Heinemann – transfered from Datei:Nacre fracture.jpg, de.wikipedia.org, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10385069
Photo by Marin Tulard on Unsplash