Story Time

Once upon a time, a little girl lived with her father. She had a string of plastic pearls which she loved very much. They were beautiful pearls and she wore them all the time. Every night, her daddy would come to put her to bed, and she would fall asleep wearing those plastic pearls. Every night, however, as he was tucking her in, her father would say,

"Honey, you know I love you?"

"Yes, Daddy," she would say, "and I love you too."

"Do you trust me, honey?"

"Yes, Daddy."

"May I have your plastic pearls?"

"Oh no, Daddy, not my pearls!" she would answer.

This sequence happened night after night for days, for weeks, for years. Eventually, when the little girl was not so little anymore, the story changed:

"Honey, you know I love you."

"Yes, Daddy. I love you too."

"Do you trust me?"

"Yes, Daddy, of course I do."

"Then, honey, may I have your plastic pearls?"

The little girl may have been older and bigger, but she still loved that strand of plastic pearls. Still, her daddy had asked for them -- had wanted them from her for years. So, with a huge sigh and much reluctance, the girl took them off her neck and handed them to her father.

Her father reached into his pocket and gave her in exchange, a strand of real pearls that he had been carrying for years, waiting to give to her.

Christopher West ended the story by asking : What "plastic pearls" are you clinging to?