BEAUTY AND LOVE

“May I see my baby?” the happy new mother asked. When the bundle was nestled in her arms and she moved the fold of cloth to look upon his tiny face, she gasped. The doctor quickly turned and looked out the large hospital window. The baby had been born without external ears… However, time proved that the baby’s hearing was perfect. It was only his appearance that was marred. When he rushed home from school one day and flung himself into his mother’s arms, she sighed, knowing that his life was to be a succession of heartbreaks. He blurted out the tragedy: “A boy, a big boy…called me a freak.” He grew up, handsome, except for his misfortune. A favourite with his fellow-students, he might have been a class prefect, but for this deformity. He developed a gift, a talent for literature and music. “You might mingle with other young people,” his mother reproved him, but she felt a tenderness in her heart. The boy’s father had a session with the family physician. Can nothing be done? “I believe we could graft on a pair of outer ears if they could be procured,” the doctor said. Whereupon the search began for a person who would be willing to make such a sacrifice for a young boy. Two years went by. Then, “You are going to hospital, son. Mother and I have someone who is willing to donate the outer ears you need. But the donor’s identity is a secret,” said his father. The operation was a resounding success, and a new person emerged! His talents blossomed into genius, and school and college became a series of triumphs. Later he married and entered the diplomatic service. “But I must know!” he urged his father. “Who gave so much for me? I could never do enough for him.” “I do not believe you could,” agreed the father, “but the agreement was that you are not to know…not yet.” The years kept their profound secret, but the day did come…one of the darkest days that ever passed by a son. He stood with his father at his mother’s casket. Slowly, tenderly, the father stretched forth a hand and raised the long, thick, reddish-brown hair to reveal that his mother had no outer ears… “Mother said she was glad she never let her hair be cut short,” he whispered gently, “and nobody ever thought mother less beautiful, did they?” Real beauty lies not in the physical appearance, but in the heart. Real treasure lies not in what can be seen, but in what cannot be seen. Real love lies not in what is done and known, but in what is done, but not known. [Taken from Dunamis, Jan./Feb. 2002]