Diamonds are forever

Diamonds, I am told, are formed under pressure. As peat sinks deeper into the earth, pressures harden it into the strongest stone there is.
When a diamond is found in a mine, it is a rock. It is in the cutting and polishing that it begins to sparkle. The facets gouge chasms in the stone which, when polished, attract light and reveal hidden beauties. The intrinsic beauty of the diamond is revealed through the cutting and polishing.
I'm obviously no geologist, but I think each life is a diamond. Every life is beautiful, and as life happens, the good and the bad, the facets cut deep and expose the inner beauty in new ways that sparkle. God is the ultimate diamond polisher, and as he is invited into a life he is able to create and expose a deeper beauty than ever imagined. The bad things in his hands transform into something breath-taking.
May he transform those deepest cuts in you today, polishing away shame and regret, anger and unforgiveness, fear and disappointment. May he replace despair with hope, hatred with his love, shame with confidence.
May he restore to you and me the years that the locust has eaten, and reveal a mine of polished diamonds, individual gems giving glory to him.

Diamonds are Forever

Out of the mouths of babes...

Yesterday in church, the children were asked to name some of the beautiful things God has created. One voice piped up, ‘Diamonds.’

That drew a laugh (as did, in response to the question of what is necessary for life, the answer ‘broccoli’).

I keep thinking about the diamonds. Diamonds are created from something dirty and ugly, when it is put under enormous pressure. I am just such a thing. Something smudged by sin and misshapen by rebellion. When the pressures of life bear down on me now, though, having given my life to Jesus and trusting him to cleanse and purify me, I can expect that those pressures are creating a diamond which will last forever. 

And so, as James wrote, ‘Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colours. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.’ ... ‘Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life.’ (The Message)

Diamonds are forever. And that's what we are becoming, through all the trials and tribulations. Thanks to God's grace and mercy.

Gems on the Roadside

Morning by morning new mercies I see.

I found myself singing out this old favourite hymn this morning as I walked with Dusty down the road. Great is thy faithfulness.

Found myself singing, despite the sudden death of a dear old friend yesterday, the loss of a personality in this world who brought joy and cheer and wise words to many. The loss of a carer in her family. Heaven’s gain, is our loss.

Yet I was singing. I heard the birds singing, and wondered if they experience grief. How much more often they must suddenly miss a bird from a neighbouring nest, or even a mate or chick. Maybe I’m taking this too far, but I don’t think so. Animals have the capacity for emotion, too, I think. Dusty certainly does anyway.

I carried a punnet with me. Yes, as I admitted in yesterday’s blog, I’m a pack rat and the brambles are ripening nicely along the verges and in the hedges.

Was a time, thirty years ago, when elderly couples parked their old Morris minors precariously along the verges and could be seen picking all the wee sweet gems they found. No longer. The hazards on the country roads these days are in the form of packs of cyclists who range across the road widths, sometimes oblivious to traffic building up behind. They seek fitness and health. Do they achieve it in a better way than those who used to glean along the edges of the road, go home and make crumbles and jams and cakes from these fruits grown without chemicals? Debatable.

Now it’s just me, dotting from bush to bush as Dusty moseys along the road in front of me. 

Sometimes the plump black berries glint like deep blue sapphires among the willow herb. Easy to spot, easy to pick. Sometimes they lurk beneath leaves, over walls, under bushes, needing to be ferreted out. Not all are ready for picking. Some are still red and solid, waiting for the kiss of sun which will sweeten its taste.

Inside, I’m still sad. Grieving for my friend, for her family, so suddenly bereft of her sunny disposition. But I’m picking the fruits which God has provided. All I need, his hand provides. He knows the sorrow, and he provides for that, too. He knows the anxieties, and he has a solution for that as well.

Sometimes the gems he gives us are obvious and drop into our laps. Other times we need to linger, to look carefully, to listen, to glean. 

Today, as I came up the drive, a drop fell from the tree above. I thought at first it was a heavy droplet from rain the night before. But it was white.

A bird dropping, right on two of my beautiful brambles. (Don’t worry, anyone who might be served crumble at my house – they will be carefully washed!)

We need to take care that the world doesn’t soil the gems God gives us. 

May you glean diamonds from the treasury of God our loving father today. Just watch out for the birds overhead...

Diamonds

It’s a harsh world out there this morning: harsh but beautiful. As I let the cat in at 7 am, the full moon, shining in all its cold glory, was just sinking behind the Hill of Fare. 

Then at 8 am, as I walked Dusty the sun was rising, a brilliant orb of colour in an otherwise monochrome landscape.

Even the deer we disturbed fit well into the colourless world, their white tails bobbing as they fairly flew into the Forest of Endor. Dusty gave chase joyfully in a short burst of remembered youth, then turned back to me, tail wagging a smile.

The frost is hard on the ground and bushes. Thin fingers of broom glitter in the sunlight, each crystal reflecting the rising sun, twinkling like minute stars stretched along a straight galaxy. 

So many areas in the world where life is harsh on the ground. News of the sufferings in Syria dominate the headlines and overtake my thoughts. Fear and pain, injustice and violence, and a deadly mixture of political ‘interests’ and alliances in the region. 

I pray today that for the people suffering in that country torn apart, there might be one or two diamonds sparkling on the ground. May the Prince of Peace bring resolution and healing, and comfort to all who mourn.