Pearl and the Gift of Faithfulness
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”
Matthew 13:45-46
Pearls make me think of the kingdom of heaven. When I read the book Pearl, by Molly Idle, Jesus’ parable in Matthew 13 immediately came to mind, and I wondered about the connection between Idle’s mermaid story and the treasure of the Gospel. In Pearl, Molly Idle weaves a beautiful story about a young mermaid who watches older mermaids protecting and presiding over their under-sea sphere. Pearl yearns to assume her place among them, and she tells her mother she is ready to receive her own work. Pearl’s mother thoughtfully agrees, and tells Pearl she has a special task prepared for her.
Pearl follows her mother up, through the ocean, glancing expectantly at each of the other mermaids they pass – the keepers of kelp, the caretakers of coral, and the guards of giant squid. Yet, her mother leads her past them all. She leads Pearl all the way to the edge of the ocean, where the waves crash against the shore. And there, Pearl receives her great task. She receives a single grain of sand.
“This is yours.”
“Yours, to care for every day and keep safe every night.”
“But mother… you said I could help with something important.”
“The smallest of things can make a great difference, Pearl,” her mother replied.
As her mother disappears into the surf, Pearl sits with her piece of sand, feeling confused and indignant. She looks out at the beach filled with millions and billions of grains of sand… then down at the one she is given. Just one.
“Her heart grew heavy,
and the weight of it pulled her
down…
down…
down…
… where the salt of her tears mingled with the sea.”
Pearl squeezes her sand in clenched fists and glowers at it. Then she notices a faint light shining from inside of her hand. When she opens her hand, she can’t see it. But when she closes her hand around the sand, there it is again. Pearl opens her hand, and notices that the sand seems to grow and shine. The more she clutches it, the bigger and more beautiful it becomes. She begins carrying her sand and bringing it everywhere with her. “Everyday, Pearl preserved it, polished it, and played with it. Every night, she protected it.” The sand grows and grows until it becomes an enormous, pearly orb.
“And as it grew lighter, so did Pearl’s heart.
It seemed to buoy them up…
and up…
and up…
… until it rose into the vast sea of stars.”
Pearl and her pearl swim back up to the shore, where Pearl releases her pearly light, sending it up like a moon in the night sky to illuminate her entire undersea world. It shines down on the reef, the kelp, and the squid, and it shines upon Pearl.
This pearl is like the gospel, reflecting the bright love of the Father of Heavenly Lights. It is a precious treasure that grows through love and care, much like the kingdom of heaven. While an initial read of the story seems to draw the reader’s attention to Pearl, to the big difference that this little mermaid makes in the world, when read it in light of the kingdom of God, Pearl’s story contains a transcendent resplendence. The beauty of this story resides not with Pearl, but with her faithfulness.
At the beginning of the book, Pearl does not arrive like the parable merchant with a life’s work to trade. She is young and empty-handed, searching for some source of significance and, in large part, searching for something significant in herself. She hopes for something that can be gazed at in the same way she admires the work of the other mermaids. Thus, when Pearl receives the grain of sand, so small that even she can barely see it, her grandiose hopes are dashed. This is not a work for others to admire. When Pearl closes her hand, the sand is completely hidden in her grasp. It might as well be as small as a mustard seed.
Pearl does not understand the task set before her… yet, she does not let go. Her trust in her mother enables her to receive the gift of her vocation, and the gift takes root. Her sand grows, and its growth pulls her focus away from her external, intangible hopes. Her hope is here, at hand, in simple faithfulness.
God’s word has a great deal to say about work. From the early days of Genesis, God commands Adam to “work and keep” the garden1. Then, long after the final time God walks with his people in the cool of the day, God presides with his people in the tabernacle and then the temple, charging them with “working and keeping” a particular kind of relational vocation2; keeping faith as He keeps his promises. When Pearl receives her own work, her mother passes the sand to her “to care for every day and keep safe every night.” This care and keeping is not ostensibly significant work; it is kingdom work, where something is set aside and the proceeds are fruitful and life-giving. Pearl responds to the sand, giving of herself and setting all else aside to repeatedly reach out and grasp her grain. Thus, she undergoes a self-emptying that allows her to receive much more in return. As she opens her hand to glimpse her sand’s mysterious glow, she is filled with love. This love is a gift, and Pearl gives herself in response. She is emptied of all but this work of faithful stewardship and the growth of love it inspires.
Faith grows in holding fast – in the dailiness, the repeated preserving, polishing, and playing. Pearl’s grain only grows when she has her hands wrapped tightly around it, just as our faith only grows as we return to it and guard it and hold it close. Scripture tells us that “in returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and trust shall be your strength.”3 Pearl’s vocation exhibits this beautifully: Molly Idle illustrates a scene where Pearl sleeps in her oyster shell, holding the pearl near her heart and resting serenely in its light. Her mother swims in the shadow cast by that light, smiling at her daughter’s devotion.
None of the goodness in this story comes from Pearl alone. Her joy is sparked by the sand’s pearly light, and while the delight she experiences at the pearl’s growth wells up from within Pearl, the growth of the speck does not. The sand’s growth is a marvel that transcends Pearl; she does not make the sand, and she does not cause it to become a pearl. The pearl, and Pearl herself, are transformed through participation with something far greater, larger than Pearl can contain. Like an oyster, Pearl becomes a vessel for a glowing grandeur. It reflects upon her, filling her with joy and playfulness that she reflects back upon it. Pearl’s speck grows through love, and the more she carries it and loves it, the larger and lighter and brighter it becomes. At the end of the story, Pearl’s love has become so buoyed and bright that it floats beyond her. Pearl offers this love, and thereby herself, to the kingdom where all is made bright.
When we allow Pearl to surrender her place at the center of the story, we follow Pearl herself in laying lesser significance aside. At the outset of the story, Pearl desires things outside her grasp. We follow her in her journey as she holds the sand, learning to desire the thing in her hands, and then learning to desire something greater than anything her hands can hold. Here, Pearl and the parable give us a glimpse of God’s kingdom. The merchant trades his life’s work, all his profits and proceeds. He trades everything he owns to hold this engrossing, all encompassing treasure. To have it and hold it. Similarly, Pearl gives all she is to have her glowing pearl. Yet, she does not hold on to her treasure. She releases it. In this story, Pearl does not hide her lamp under a basket, or keep it within four walls. After carrying it close and growing it, she opens her hands. She doesn’t just share it, she sends it up to bring light to her watery world. Her “having” is a having of love, leaving her hands free for caring for her next charge. She sends her hope and bright joy beyond its material, sandy shores, into the shining sphere of the source.
“Pearl beamed up at it.
It beamed back.
Its light touched everything.
…and it shone upon Pearl.”
Genesis 2:15
Numbers 3:5-7 uses the Hebrew words for work (שָׁמַר) and keep (עָבַד) that were originally utilized in Genesis 2:15.
Isaiah 30:15