Not too long ago my daughter sent me a photo of a tiny scallop shell that she had found on the beach in front of the family cottage on Nantucket.  She captioned the image with these simple but profound words: “Sometimes if you look really hard you find the tiniest treasures.” 

            Often it’s hard to see the beauty and the tiny treasures that surround us because our senses are sometimes overwhelmed by political rhetoric which seems to foster only anger, prejudice and fear.  On top of all of that, we are inundated daily with grim news of senseless violence, horrific fires and floods, as well as humanity’s cruelty to the very planet we call home and to the precious creatures that live upon this earth.  Yes, it is easy to become blind to the good and the beautiful if we only pay attention to the sensational and the negative.

            Yet there are treasures all around us…the gentle birdsong that awakens us in the morning…the smile of a loved one, a friend, a total stranger who is moved by our kindness…the tiny scallop shell nestled in the sand just waiting for someone to come along and celebrate it’s simple loveliness.  There is beauty in this world…there are tiny treasures waiting to be discovered that will bring warmth to our hearts and a smile to our faces if we just take the time to look “really hard.”