The most interesting thing to me about starfish is their ability to regenerate.

If they lose a limb, they can grow it back. Some species can even grow back the entire body from the one arm

They epitomize resilience: they bounce back.

We often subscribe to a notion of resilience that looks more like doing without: If you lose an arm, you can learn how to live with one arm. This is good.

The problem comes when we apply this to the heart.

I lose a love, so I declare I don’t need to love again. I lose a friend so I decide no longer need friends.

What if we embraced a resilience that said I will not let life rob me of my hope, or my joy?

What if we refused to let other people’s actions take our capacity to love fully?

The hardened heart doesn’t hurt. It also doesn’t feel. But a tender heart can hurt, feel, even bleed. And that is the cost of fully living.

Our lives should be filled with things so wonderful that we must grieve their loss.

It’s true of people, places, seasons, and things.

The Bible says every good and every perfect gift comes from God. So many things we enjoy are good and perfect gifts. How different would our walk be if we treated them that way?

How much more colorful would our lives be if we admitted just how much everything meant to us, and walked in gratitude, or grief, or groaning for the things we have, had, and never had but know we crave?

What if we chose, when knocked down. to get back up?

What if we chose, when cut deep, to keep growing? Not bitter, but better.

Today, may we live authentically, even if it hurts. And maybe, just maybe, we’ll discover that some things we considered gone forever, can grow back.

Works Cited

“Starfish (Sea Stars): National Geographic.” Animals, https://www.nationalgeographic....