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the girl and the glass heart {a parable}

Natasha Metzler · 7 minute read

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Once upon a time in the land of the glass hearts, there lived a young girl. This girl, as all the girls did, carried with her a heart.

While she was young it was kept safely on the nightstand by her bed and every night she would look at it and smile. It was so perfect; pure, clear, everything a beautiful heart was suppose to be.

Eventually the time came that her parents gave her the heart to carry with her always.

“It will break if you aren’t gentle with it,” her father reminded her.

And she was. She kept it cradled softly in her hand as she wandered through life.

When she was still a young girl, no longer a small child yet not yet a woman, it happened. She was sitting there, her heart in her hand, and he walked by.

It wasn’t on purpose!

It just happened that neither of them were paying attention and when he passed, it fell, swiftly, with a slight “whoosh!” and hit the pavement with a bump. The girl was horrified. The boy never noticed. He had only passed her, after all, and had someplace to be.

The girl fell to her knees next to the heart. It was still in one piece but cracks were beginning to show. Picking it up carefully, she held it gently in both hands. She looked around and realized that no one saw. Not a single person had any idea that her heart was broken.

her heart was broken - graphic design by Chantel Brankshire

That night she went home, the heart hidden in her hands.

The family was very busy that evening. When the girl walked in people were bustling about and no one paid her much mind. Her mother stopped, for just a moment, to give her a kiss and ask about her day. Since she was so very busy, when the girl lifted her hands and began to show the broken heart, all she saw was a glimpse of perfect glass and so she said, “What a wonderful idea, my daughter, to keep your heart hidden so carefully with two hands! Now it will never get broken.”

The girl went back to her room and sat on her bed, staring at the broken heart. She looked at it carefully. The cracks were very real but she realized that if she held it together with both hands, one could not see the cracks at all. In fact, it still looked like it had before. Perfect.

She thought of her mother’s words and felt a tear fall. It would be horrible to hurt her mother by showing her the broken heart. So, in that moment she made a decision and with both hands cradled around the no-longer-perfect heart, she continued through life.

The years passed and the girl was successful. No one had any idea that her heart was no longer whole. Everyone who knew her thought that she had kept it safely hidden in her hands to keep it from breaking. They couldn’t know that she kept it hidden to keep it from falling apart.

The problem with this is that no one really knew what her heart looked like. All they ever saw was the tiniest glimpse whenever she felt safe enough to lift her hands a bit. But it wasn’t enough to really see what it looked like, only enough to show a bit of perfect, clear glass.

She couldn’t do much, with both hands being occupied, so she kept mostly to herself. When she did do things, everyone thought she was wonderful because she was so very careful and never was seen dropping her heart or letting others hold it like many of the girls her age. Mothers would tell their daughters, “Look, see how careful she is! You must be like that. Your heart is meant to be treasured. Follow her example.”

Whenever she heard the mothers, the girl would smile. She felt relief. This was, of course, the best way to handle everything.

After awhile she forgot that her heart was even broken. It just stayed so nice in her hands and the only time she looked at it was when she was showing others, so all she ever saw was the perfect part.

Somewhere, during this time, the girl met a man. He was known as the Heart-Healer. A more wonderful man was impossible to find. He was loving and caring, kind and compassionate, and he healed. Oh, did he heal! That was his business. In the land of glass hearts, there were many broken ones, and this man would fix them.

The girl became friends with him because her parents were. He would come over for dinner, many a night. He would spend whole days with just her family. Talking, sharing, laughing. The girl knew he healed hearts, so it is a wonder that she never showed him hers. The reason, of course, was that by the time she knew who he was, she had forgotten that her heart was broken. She did so many things with him. She let him closer than she ever did anyone else. He was her love. But her heart stayed hidden.

When she became a woman he began asking her. “Please, show me your heart.” She would laugh and lift her hands just a bit, enough to show a perfect clear glimpse of glass. He would smile and kiss her forehead as she began talking about something else.

Time after time, he would ask, and she would laugh and show him a bit more. Never enough to remember that her heart wasn’t perfect; just enough to show the parts that were.

Then it happened. One night, they were lying outside on the grass, staring at the stars. He sat up slightly, leaned over her and said again, “My darling, please, show me your heart.”

She looked at him and whispered, “There is nothing to show.”

But he said, “You are my love. I need to see your heart.”

Her hands were shaking but she opened them and to her horror the heart fell apart. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she suddenly remember that her heart was in pieces. “It’s broken,” was all she could say as she stared at the glass shards that had left scars on the palms of her hands where the edges had ripped into her skin when she had gripped the shattered pieces so tightly.

The Heart-Healer took her hands in his and began to kiss the cuts and scars. “My beautiful one,” was all he said.

“It’s broken,” she whispered again.

He began to laugh. “Yes, my love, it is broken. But I am the healer of hearts.” He took the heart carefully from her hands and she glimpsed the scars on his own.

healer of hearts - graphic design by Chantel Brankshire

After awhile, assured of his faithfulness and ability, she fell asleep and did not waken until morning.

When she opened her eyes, he set the heart carefully back in her hands. She took a breath and looked. She stared. It was indeed a heart again, but it was in shattered pieces all melded back together. “But,” she gasped, “It’s not perfect. I thought you were going to heal it.”

The Heart-Healer smiled at her softly, “Look again.”

She looked back at her hands and just then a glimmer of light hit the heart. Usually when light would hit one of the glass hearts it would go straight through, but with this heart, the light danced across everything around it.

 “I am more than just the Heart-Healer,” the man told her, “I am also the Heart-Maker. This,” he pointed towards her shimmering heart, “is what my hearts are meant to look like.”

“But it’s broken,” the girl said again.

“But, only in brokenness can it truly be whole.” He reached down and pulled out, for her to see, his own heart. It was glass, just like hers, and it was in shattered pieces, just like hers.

“Hearts were made to see. Perfect hearts are kept so sacred that no one can really see them. But hearts like these, they can shine light just like they were made to. Wholeness does not come from perfection. Wholeness comes from purpose. There is no purpose in a perfect heart. There is purpose in a broken one.”

heart photo by Carien of sxc.hu, graphic design by Chantel Brankshire

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Natasha Metzler

Natasha Metzler

Natasha writes from a small farm in Northern New York where she lives with her husband and three miracle children. In between homeschooling the older kids she blogs and writes books. Pain Redeemed tells the story of her journey through infertility, Counting Grains of Sand tells of how God built her family from splintered pieces, and WordSnacks is devotional encouragement for every day.
Natasha Metzler

@natashametzler

author | blogger | wife & adoptive mother | believer in miracles insta: https://t.co/AJIwdiyldT books: https://t.co/Wf465NuHUj
@briannajea Um. Yes. 1000%. - 4 hours ago
Natasha Metzler
Natasha Metzler

Natasha Metzler

Natasha Metzler

Natasha Metzler

Natasha Metzler

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  • How to Respond to Correction from Other Believers - November 13, 2019
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You can also follow @NatashaMetzler on Instagram.
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Trust · April 10, 2012 · 21 Comments

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Comments

  1. AvatarJulie says . . .

    January 30, 2018 at 3:20 pm

    So beautiful!!!

    Reply
  2. AvatarDeena says . . .

    December 5, 2015 at 9:17 pm

    Wow just Wow! Beautiful!

    Reply
  3. AvatarEclecticElegance says . . .

    April 12, 2013 at 5:45 pm

    I just referenced this in a recent blog post: http://elodenorjeles.blogspot.com/2013/03/purity-rings.html. Thank you so much for your words. It helped me a lot in my own journey.

    Reply
  4. AvatarEvelyn Millen says . . .

    May 25, 2012 at 9:13 am

    Beautiful!

    Reply
  5. AvatarAnna says . . .

    May 20, 2012 at 3:06 pm

    http://everydayetchings.blog.com/2012/05/20/the-tale-of-the-broken-heart/

    I scribbled this this afternoon after walking home with someone who was hurting.
    Afterwards, I remembered that the inspiration probably more than partially came from having read your parable a while back, and my own painful bereavement following the death of my fiance.
    Anyway, since I have been so blessed by your blog, I wanted to share this with you.
    Anna 🙂

    Reply
  6. AvatarChare' says . . .

    May 10, 2012 at 6:36 pm

    Thank you for posting this. My heart is broken right now and there are a lot of scars from the past that never seem to fade…but after reading this I rest assured that there is purpose in a broken heart and that He will heal me. Thank you so much.

    Reply
    • AvatarNatasha Metzler says . . .

      May 10, 2012 at 7:28 pm

      May you feel Him near.
      Many blessings.

      Reply
  7. AvatarNash says . . .

    April 26, 2012 at 10:35 am

    Thank you so much for posting this, It was just what I need to hear today! 🙂

    Reply
  8. Trina HoldenTrina Holden says . . .

    April 21, 2012 at 6:40 am

    my dear, you have a gift. I’ve tried to tell this type of story before, but never with such beauty, and I never conceived the beautiful climax. Thank you for helping me accept – no, embrace and rejoice over the cracks in my own heart, for they reflect His beauty. Oh, yes. This thought makes my day.

    Reply
  9. AvatarChev says . . .

    April 11, 2012 at 8:09 pm

    Wow! There’s pure talent in this writing. I love it.

    Reply
  10. AvatarKendra says . . .

    April 11, 2012 at 5:55 pm

    What a lovely story! Only Jesus can take something broken and turn it into something beautiful!!

    Reply
  11. AvatarKristy says . . .

    April 11, 2012 at 5:42 pm

    Thank you so much for this story! I opened it up this morning after completing some Bible study work on the James study. We just finished talking about “perfect” and how in hebrew it can mean “wholeness”. Perfect is such a hard word and yet it is used so commonly now. I love thinking about the way the light dances around the broken parts of the heart…it is only through Christ that our brokeness can serve a purpose and shine for others to see. Thank you for sharing this with us.

    Reply
  12. AvatarJulie says . . .

    April 11, 2012 at 7:39 am

    Amazing! I cried. Iam definately going to print this out and email it to friends. Thanks for the story.

    Reply
  13. AvatarEsther says . . .

    April 10, 2012 at 11:19 pm

    Thank you so much for sharing this…

    Reply
  14. AvatarMarissa says . . .

    April 10, 2012 at 6:00 pm

    I cried. Thank you so much for sharing this, Natasha. It was just what I need to hear today…

    Reply
  15. AvatarJessiqua Wittman says . . .

    April 10, 2012 at 5:40 pm

    I wish more of us were told this story as girls… it sure beats all the “perfect is unbroken” stuff I consumed. The Master is so much better than a fairy tale!

    Reply
  16. AvatarChantel says . . .

    April 10, 2012 at 11:11 am

    I read this and I cried. Oh, how true. How very, very true! Thank you for this. <3

    Reply
  17. AvatarJennifer says . . .

    April 10, 2012 at 8:12 am

    Oh Natasha…thank you for sharing this. How constantly I want to hide away my brokenness. This post was a gift. Thank you.

    Reply
  18. AvatarAnna Lofgren says . . .

    April 10, 2012 at 7:58 am

    Beautiful… thought provoking… Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  19. AvatarLaura Olech @ Perfect Love says . . .

    April 10, 2012 at 6:11 am

    Oh, wow! That is beautiful! I am going to print that off and keep it in a safe place. How true that is…but in order for Him to heal our hearts, we must let Him see our heart…every part of it. Sometimes that is the hardest part…giving it to Him. But once we do, it is SAFE.

    Thank you so much for writing this. I was meant to hear this today, I think. 🙂

    Reply
    • AvatarNatasha Metzler says . . .

      April 10, 2012 at 9:50 am

      So glad that it spoke to you. Feel free to share it! Many, many blessings. <3

      Reply

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Natasha Metzler

Natasha writes from a small farm in Northern New York where she lives with her husband and three miracle children. In between homeschooling the older kids she blogs and writes books. Pain Redeemed tells the story of her journey through infertility, Counting Grains of Sand tells of how God built her family from splintered pieces, and WordSnacks is devotional encouragement for every day.

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