Gospel Ring

OK - I know rings have great gospel symbolism, eternal life and all that. But a different thought struck me the other day about my wedding band so here it is (in case you care).

This band is very special to me. Beyond that it symbolizes my eternal companionship with my best (sometimes only) friend, it was purchased in a very special place during a wonderful time. Jeanne, Emily and I all flew to London to pick up Mary from semester abroad (see previous posts) and one day went to Portobello Road. The whole place is like a giant outdoor market and we had a wonderful time. One of the vendors was an artist who worked with silver. He had wedding bands. They were simple, beautiful, reasonable and we were in a romantic place so Jeanne and I both bought new bands. Hence, it is very special to me.

Skip to now. Jeanne and I swim at the YMCA nearly everyday. For some reason I never realized that chlorine tarnishes silver - really bad. So, by exposing my ring to the pool water it gets tarnished. Thankfully we have some silver polish so every now and then I shine it up. After so doing the other day it struck me - this is the whole gospel! Each of us are eternal rings. We get exposed to the things of the world and become tarnished. If we are willing, we can, through the use of polish and a little work, become beautiful and shiny again. Christ is the polish. He can clean anything off of us if we let him and are willing to do a little work. When we shine we reflect light, when we are tarnished we are dark. Simple but true. May we all shine!