the missing piece

i've long been wanting to get a copy of shel silverstein's THE MISSING PIECE, THE MISSING PIECE MEETS THE BIG O and THE GIVING TREE. though these are labeled "children's books," the short, simple stories are surprisingly profound.

got this from the net just now
(see http://home.earthlink.net/~foodforthought2/id119.html), and i'm posting it here - some deep thoughts gleaned from a children's book. just goes to show that valuable things can and sometimes do come from "small" packages :)

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THE MISSING PIECE By Shel Silverstein, (cited in Connections, 10/97)

"Once there was a circle that was missing. A large triangular wedge had been cut out of it. The circle wanted to be whole, with nothing missing, so it went around and around looking for its missing piece. But because it was incomplete, it could only roll very slowly as it rolled throughout the world.

But as it rolled slowly, it admired the flowers along the way. It chatted with butterflies. It enjoyed the warm sunshine. It found lots of pieces, but none of them fit. Some were too big and some were to small. Some were too square and some too pointy. So it left them by the side of the road and kept on searching.

Then one day the circle found a piece that fit perfectly. It was so happy. Now it could be whole, with nothing missing. With the replacement piece in place, the now perfect circle could roll along very fast, but too fast to notice the flowerd, too fast to talk to the butterflies.

When it realized how different the world seemed when it rolled along so quickly, the circle stopped, left its newfound piece by the side of the road, and rolled slowly away, looking for its missing peice."


APPLICATION In some strange sense, we are more whole when we are incomplete. The individual who has everything is in some ways poor. The "rich" will never know what it feels like to yearn, to hope, to nourich the soul with the dream of something better, to have someone love him/her enough to give the "rich" something priceless of themselves.

As the rich young man in the gospel could not understand, there is a wholeness to those who can give themselves away, who can give their time, money and strngth to others and not feel diminished in doing so. There is a wholenness to those who can accept their limitations, who have learned that they are strong enough to go through a tragedy and survive, who can lose something or someone and still feel complete.

May we possess faith strong enough to accept ourselves as poor and incomplete in the estimation of the world but whole and rich in the treasures of God.

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what are *your* thoughts on THE MISSING PIECE? share your comments with others.. post them at the comments link below :) and i encourage everyone to read the other two books, as well. i'm sure you'll get a lot of insights from them too..