Are you searching for love and fulfillment in all the wrong places? Author Elizabeth Grace Harris shares the quirky metaphor that changed her life and guides readers toward the true, inexhaustible source of unconditional love.
Amid grief and spiritual disorientation, an unusual thought struck her. She finally recognized the futility of seeking something from a source that could never provide it—like trying to ‘squeeze orange juice from an elephant. No matter the strength of her effort or the sincerity of her desire, the outcome was always going to be the same: disappointment and emptiness. This odd yet piercing metaphor became a lantern on her path, capturing a truth so many unknowingly embody: we spend our lives trying to squeeze orange juice from elephants.
What does that mean? For Elizabeth, it was the realization that she had been seeking infinite, unconditional love from finite, conditional sources. She was asking people, institutions, and achievements to provide a sense of wholeness and validation that they were fundamentally incapable of providing. It was a misdirection of energy, a recipe for inevitable disappointment. Her book, Letters to Heaven, is the chronicle of her decision to finally put the elephant down and walk toward the orange grove.
The universal human struggle often begins innocently enough. We are wired for deep connection and Love. Our media steers us to seek it outside ourselves, and so we are programmed to seek it in the world around and outside ourselves. We look for it in:
- Hoping that one person will be our “everything,” completing us and erasing all our insecurities.
- Believing that the next promotion, the next award, that new car, or the next dollar will finally make us feel valued and significant.
- Curating our lives on social media and in person to gain the likes, admiration, and acceptance of others, letting their validation define our self-worth.
- Treating faith as a transaction, following rules perfectly to earn a love that was already freely given.
Elizabeth had tried them all, except for following the rules of her upbringing. She crossed lines and compromised her own values to chase a love her culture told her would be the end all of everything, something that ultimately left her flat on her face. She had defaulted to the structures of her faith, while actively resisting the rules, rather than seeing it as a relationship with the loving Presence of the Source of all Creation. Each endeavor, each “elephant,” initially promised the nourishment of “orange juice” love, peace, purpose. And each time, after immense effort, she was left thirsty, wondering why she still felt a hollow emptiness inside.
The unraveling of her outer pursuits, though painful, became a necessary breaking point. It was then she recognized that the tools she had relied upon were never meant for the task at hand. Just as no one would reach for a hammer to paint a masterpiece, how could she expect human love to measure up to the Love that only the Divine can give?
Letters to Heaven documents the pivotal shift in her search. The “orange grove” she discovered was not a physical place but an internal one. The true source of unconditional love, she discovered, was not something to be earned from an external God, but something to be uncovered within herself, as a direct expression of that Divine Source. The Love she had been seeking outside was, in fact, the very core of her own being. The caterpillar had spent its life seeking the butterfly outside of itself, only to realize it already contained the blueprint for becoming one.
It changes everything. It doesn’t devalue human love or achievement; it puts them in their proper context. When you are grounded in the unshakable knowing that you are a beloved child of God, you can enjoy romantic love without needing it to define you. You can pursue success without tying your worth to it. You can appreciate social connections without being enslaved by them. Human love becomes a beautiful, refreshing glass of orange juice, a wonderful gift to be enjoyed, not the sole source of your survival. You are no longer squeezing the people in your life; you are sharing your abundance with them.
Elizabeth‘s journey invites her readers to take a look in a deeper and different direction. It’s about gently releasing the external elephants we’ve been pressing for orange juice, and turning inward, toward the orange grove itself. The most profound message of her book is a simple, life-altering directive: “Be the child of God that you are. The rest will fall into place.”
The “rest” includes healthier relationships, a more peaceful mind, and a purpose that flows naturally from a heart that knows it is loved, and is NEVER alone. It means finally understanding that the Love you’ve been searching for has been within you all along, an infinite wellspring waiting to be acknowledged. It doesn’t mean freedom FROM pain and problems, but freedom WITHIN pain and problems.
Elizabeth’s metaphor asks us to identify our own “elephants.” What is one “elephant” in your life—a person, job, or goal—you’ve been trying to squeeze for “orange juice,” only to be left feeling empty? What would it feel like to gently put it down, and seek the Source for what it is you are truly looking for?