More Beautiful Than Diamonds

There was a popular song in the worship culture of my growing up years:

Lord, you are more precious than silver.

Lord, you are more costly than gold.

Lord, you are more beautiful than diamonds.

And nothing I desire compares to you.

I remember standing between my parents on Sunday mornings, singing this song with my family. It was a favorite of mine as a young girl, lyrics I could wrap my mind around. Gold. Silver. Diamonds. These words, I understand.

Then Robb asked me to marry him. And a diamond rested on my left hand.

I discovered that the church sanctuary seemed to be the most beautiful place in the world to look at my engagement ring. With the rows of lights across the ceiling, my treasured ring sparkled a million facets. I confess... I found it mildly distracting sometimes. Beautifully distracting, really.

One Sunday morning, as we sang that song once more, it struck new meaning in my heart. My ring caught the light and glistened back at me. I was captivated, in love with the man who gave it to me, enthralled with the beauty of the ring and the promise it held.

"Lord, you are more beautiful than diamonds."

And suddenly, I realized I had never really understood those lyrics at all. More beautiful than diamonds. Not simply more beautiful to look at, but entirely more beautiful to behold. Not simply more beautiful than the ring, but more sacred than the promise.

The chorus took on new meaning for me: Lord, you are more beautiful than this diamond, than this love, than the forever I've painted in my mind. Let me never forget.

Today, that diamond ring still rests on my finger, now sandwiched between two bands: one for our wedding, one for our anniversary of ten years. Even as I type, it winks at me in the light of this cafe. It represents my marriage, that commitment, that love, that life. Those things are no longer as I imagined; they are not the forever I painted. Sacred to me, that story is finished.

And I am reminded anew of those words.

Lord, you are more beautiful than diamonds. And nothing I desire compares to you.

Let me never forget.