Diamonds in the Dirt

"The more the diamond is cut the brighter it sparkles; and in what seems hard dealing, there God has no end in view but to perfect His people. "

(Thomas Guthrie)

This week I took in a completely delicious performance of the stage play, "Jake's Gift" at the Daysland Palace Theatre. The story is set in France where WW2 vets were returning for the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Normandy. One of the three characters (all acted by one woman) was a crusty old Canadian veteran who has returned to Juno Beach for the first time in 60 years; he returns to visit the grave of his brother who died in the war. The vet is bent over, shaky and employs rather colorful language as he converses with an impetuous 10-year-old girl.

Within the first few minutes of the conversation, adequately salted with expletives and various profanities, a patron nearby began to comment on the character's use of course language. "Oh my... tch, tch... oh, the language..." and so on. It was a bit like being in a surround-sound theatre - sound from the stage and sound from behind! This person was so distracted by their judgment of the kind of language being used that they were missing a beautiful story of grief and healing and hope. 

There are times we do not see the diamonds for the dirt. The lenses through which we view our world can obscure the beauty that lies before us. We will judge someone, write them off, pigeon-hole them in stereotypes and in so doing we miss the gift, the beauty, the wonder that is hidden within. 

"Jake's Gift" is not a story about profanity, it is a love story about an old man reconnecting with life. It is about a young girl's innocence causing a wounded soldier to remember who he is. How sad to miss this because our sense of morality, or whatever lens we happen to be wearing, obscures our vision. I think though, that the patron behind me must have changed lenses during the performance as they were drawn into the story. Instead of judgment I heard laughter and the silence of tears being shed. 

Each of us is, to varying degrees, composed of diamonds and dirt. Knowing this, perhaps our best work in this life is to be a miner - digging deep for the diamond in the rough that lies beneath the surface of life in those we encounter.

Take your glasses off, look deep into the soil of this world and see what God sees - glittering beauty waiting to be found. 

Dig deep!

I leave the last word to John:

"Do not judge by appearances, but judge rightly with your head and your heart"

(John 7.24)

Heading down the mine shaft with you,

Pastor Bill

Three deep breaths

in

out

then look

and

see

Beauty

awaits

inside you

inside

me

smile

and

breathe

[First published October 31, 2012]