Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Rings-n-things

Okay, I admit it. At church a couple of Sundays ago, when my eyes were supposed to be closed in holy prayer, mine were open. Not only that, but I wasn't concentrating the slightest bit on what I was supposedly praying about. I was, in fact, staring at my hands. More specifically, I was contemplating the rings on my fingers. I know, I'm a helpless sinner. :)
I was feeling slightly flamboyant that morning and had decided to wear some of my older, sparkly jewelry to church. Way back when I was in high school and rhinestones were "in" I had received a cocktail ring. It's about 3/4" x3/4", silver with 13 small rhinestones set in a flower pattern. It is just this side of gaudy, perfect for an evening dress. I thought it would be fun to wear it to church, you know, where you're not supposed to be gaudy or flamboyant in any way.
So I had my nearly-gaudy cocktail ring on my right hand and my small, delicate wedding ring on my left. The difference in the two rings, to me, was stunning. At first look, the cocktail ring is more flashy, more sparkly, just, well, more. The wedding ring is lovely but it's hardly noticeable against the other. Yet when you really examine them, you see the quantity of the one versus the quality of the other. While the cocktail ring has by far the greater number of stones, the wedding ring has one particular stone of a far superior grade. They are not even the same type of stone -- one is cut glass and the other is cut diamond. A simple reminder to me that sparkle and flash aren't always superior features--in jewelry, in people and in life.
So I did manage to be reminded of something good while I was supposed to be doing, um, something else good. But maybe next time I'll try to close my eyes and pay attention.

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