D I A M O N D
…
The diamond
d i e s
The diamond
who can find?
This diamond is
l o s t
Dear diamond
What a
c o s t
…
A mess of a morning. A familiar city.
The home city.
A place of hope.
A place to getaway. A holiday.
Not a place to escape.
But a place of reminder, memory.
…
To remember:
– rest is ok
– family are a blessing
– suburbs are a slice of serenity
– life has many lessons
– God is lavish in love
This morning, the mess of a morning, the lesson, the learning – the diamond of disappointment.
This morning,
My dear Mama made a sound that vibrated funny.
… Not sure what that sound means.
… Never heard that one before.
Is she in pain? What is it?
Papa and Mama hold hands. I’m trying to understand.
“Look,”
The eyes will explain.
I look at the hand, and there, the blank stare.
Where is the diamond? Where is she?
Why did she drop away? When did she fall away?
How can she be saved?
“It’s ok,”
No words.
No words for the pain.
I can’t imagine. I can’t fathom.
Calling the insurance company. No cover.
Wrapping arms around the furry robe, royal purple, rubbing the shoulders.
“It’s ok,”
No words.
I can’t imagine. I can’t fathom.
…
There is disappointment. There is pain.
The diamond.
Gone.
A jewel of rain on a stormy day.
Drop, dropping, dropped.
Fall, falling, fallen.
….
Tears in the corner. My Mama is brave. Lids glistening. My Mama is brave.
Knowing no one is to blame.
Knowing this was not even a mistake.
This is
l i f e
Here. In this moment. There is exposure. Light on the inner place. The emptiness, the ache. The longing. When the heart shakes and breaks because it’s unable to hold the weight. The weight of this reality, where there is sickness and loss and all things have a cost. Life and death. Spent, not earned.
…
The wedding ring.
A bond of youth.
A covenant of love.
Bound.
Wrapped.
In tact.
… but …
A gap!
A gaping wound.
Ragged edges.
The diamond.
Gone.
…
The bond ok. The covenant ok.
s e a l e d
The ring ok. The diamond…
Ssh. It’s ok.
God heals.
I’ve been praying and praying this day.
Searching the floor. Searching heart and house.
…
Knowing there is so much more than earthly treasures.
Knowing this has a special place in my Mama’s heart.
…
Trusting God will make a way, even when there seems to be no way.
Trusting there is hope in every day, for God is here, Love is near, so hope stays.
…
Knowing God is a good, good Father.
Knowing the earth shall fade, but his promises remain.
…
Surrendering the lost.
Surrendering the cost.
The diamonds of this world. They are costly. Yet they fade.
There is a discovery. A journey of uncovering.
The diamond is bought at a price, and it is held dear to life.
So when the diamond is lost and you realise the cost, there is a sense of a hope that is lost.
When that’s not true. That’s only a part of the truth.
Hope holds on. Hope is strong.
We can learn from this.
The Lord is in this.
What is most valuable?
What is most dear?
L O V E
It’s tough.
It’s rough.
Life. A price.
This is life. Where the things we love and treasure can all be lost and leave a rough, ragged hole in the core. In this centre, deep down inside, we know that nothing truly satisfies. No husband, no wife. No ring, no fling. Nothing.
We can wrap it ’round the finger, fold it in the flesh, but true bonds are beyond these layers, beyond this life.
A fallen world. True covenant broken.
But. Love has spoken.
…
L O V E
Love is never lost.
Love’s cost is a Cross.
Love heals.
Love seals.
Love reveals.
Hope.
…
…
Love is near.
Papa whispers in Mama’s ear.
To the worrying heart.
To the grieving soul.
You’re the diamond.
…
…
Dear diamonds of this world –
you are dropped in a fallen place
in a space where hearts break.
…
Where love draws near –
yet there is still fear.
Where loved ones leave –
true love beyond the seen.
…
Dear diamond –
you are on a battlefield
there is loss on this field.
…
Hearts need to heal.
…
Crumbled confidence,
Chipped courage.
Fear.
Grief.
Sorrow.
Loss.
Cost.
Cross.
Sacrifice.
Paid price.
New life.
…
Dear diamond –
in Christ there is victory
Here is the hope – come now, come close.
Eternal victory.
A divine appointment with our Saviour King, who crowns with glory (1 Peter 5:4).
A crown that won’t disappoint, that won’t fade.
A crown of royalty, of victory.
A crown of his splendour and majesty.
This crown holds more weight and worth than the diamonds of disappointment that this world brings as an offering – an attempt at wrapping love when love cannot be wrapped, because Love is, Love was, and Love will be. Love is not a construct. Love is the deepest truth of humanity, the inmost desire. True love holds the heart and the hand when there are diamonds and disappointments that leave gaping holes in the soul. True love fills the needs, the wants, the empty. True love is to be known. The Lord is lavish in love. And as a Lover, he seals and heals, signing the covenant of love with his Beloved Son’s blood, so that by his Spirit we might receive adoption into his family (Romans 8:14-17).
In Christ, lessons are learning the depths of grace, the desires of the Father’s heart. For the Christian, to grow is to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18).
