Clams and Pearls

This morning, I learnt something truly fascinating (to me).
During my family's prayer meeting, we were having a discussion that was centered around some sound advice that was in the letter the apostle Paul wrote to the Roman Christians.
It never ceases to amaze me, the level of insight this dude had.

Well, he was talking about how we should rejoice even in the midst of seemingly insurmountable circumstances, because sufferings produce perseverance; and perseverance produces character; and character, hope.
Almost like a rippling process, we can go through some serious shit and come out refined, rebranded and re-energized.

My elder bro, bless his heart, has always (since we were kids) been into nature and plants and wildlife and all that creepy stuff that they show on National Geographic channel.
Anyway, he told of how at the bottom of the ocean, there exists an organism called a clam. It's a hard-shelled thingie that opens and closes like a mouth.

So, my bro, smack dab in the middle of our "spiritual" discussion, started gisting us about clams. I was wondering if he had fallen off the deep end.
My eyes popped as he said that sometimes, the clam takes in something from the water (could be a rock, sand, anything) that irritates its whole system, at which point it closes up, fighting, warring against the intruder.
It gets uncomfortable and the clam reacts, sending soldier cells to surround the stranger and hold him bound (lol...take note, the clam is squeezed shut).
Long story short, the result of this process of cells surrounding the rock or whatever caused the irritation, is a spherical object... a Pearl.
Ocean divers go to the bottom of the sea, pick up the clams, open them, and voila! Pearls. Beautiful jewelry.

I'm running the risk of seeming grossly uninformed or just plain stupid, but this blew my mind. Not just the scientific knowledge, but also the philosophical treasure that could be derived from the process.

No, we won't pass out pearls with our faeces when we go through hard times, but we could definitely become better people, through patient endurance and a willingness to learn and adapt.
The potential for a silver lining in every dark cloud is always there. Most often, we miss out on the pearls life has for us after every harrowing experience because we're either too busy with our pity party, or we're caught up in the excitement that the tough times are behind us.

Yes...I was fascinated by the clam story. It may as well be mine. I can hardly contain the joyous anticipation in my heart when I imagine what kind of pearls I'll get soon enough. 

For now though, I'm content with the rumbling process.
It'll all be worth it in the end.