The students and faculty of an elementary school in my diocese sent me this pearl pin ... they say:
"... Every year our school chooses a special symbol for that year. Some that we have had in the past include a butterfly, bird in a nest, diamond, tiger, and eagle. The symbol that we have picked for this year is the pearl. We have learned that the pearl is the response of an oyster to something that causes it injury. A pearl grows out of hurt. A little particle of sand or some other irritating substance gets inside the shell of the oyster. The oyster has no hands with which it can brush the irritant out, no means of defense except to transform the thing that is injuring it into something of beauty. It is the action of our love which can do this with people ..."