The Diamond

This moving story was told by Kathy Persson of the Northern Virginia Hospice's Grief and Loss Center as part of her message at the 2000 Annual Memorial Candlelighting Service. We have had so many requests for it and we would love to acknowledge the author, but he/she is unknown.

Today we remember death to grow. We remember to come to Shalom ‑ Peace. Listen as I tell you a story.

Once upon a time there was a king who ruled a small kingdom. It wasn't great, and it wasn't really known for any of its resources or people. But the king did have a diamond, a great perfect diamond that had been in his family for generations. He kept it on display for all to see and appreciate. People came from all over the country to admire it and gaze at it...

Then one day a soldier came to the king with the news that, although no one had touched the diamond, for it was guarded day and night, the diamond was cracked. The king ran to see, and sure enough, there was a crack right through the middle of the diamond!

Immediately the king summoned all the jewelers of the land and had them look at the diamond. One after another they examined the diamond and gave the bad news to the king; the diamond was irredeemably flawed. The king was crushed...So were the people. Somehow they felt they had lost everything.

Then, out of nowhere, came an old man who claimed to be a jeweler. He asked to see the diamond. After examining it, he looked up and confidently told the king, "I can fix it. In fact, I can make it better than it was before!" The king was shocked and a bit leery. The old man said, "Give me the jewel, and in a week I'll bring it back fixed."

Now the king was not about to let the stone out of his sight, even if it was ruined, so he gave the old man a room, all the tools and the food and drink he needed ..... and he waited. The whole kingdom waited. It was a long week. At the end of the week the old man appeared with the stone in his hand and gave it to the king. The king couldn't believe his eyes. It was magnificent!! The old man had fixed it, and he had made it even better than it had been before!!!

He had used the crack that ran through the middle of the stone as a stem and carved an intricate, full‑blown rose, leaves, and thorns into the diamond. It was exquisite.

The king was overjoyed and offered the man half of his kingdom. But the old man refused in front of everyone, saying, "All I did was to take something flawed and cracked at its heart...and turn it into something beautiful. You see, ....it is in the crack that the light gets in."

And so it is that we see that often what appears to be worthless, useless, scarred and cracked holds value beyond words. Even in our darkest and weakest moment, there is a way to let the light in...

This ritual of remembering today can be a way of transforming our hurt and sorrow into something beautiful and worthwhile. By remembering we say farewell to the past and make peace with what life brings us today.