Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes

"So he took me in spirit to a great, high, mountain, and he showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. It was filled with the glory of God and sparkled like a precious gem, crystal clear like jasper."
Revelation 21:10-11 (New Living Translation)

Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes

Do you know that song by Paul Simon and Ladysmith Black Mambazo? Such beautiful music that combines African and English sounds and words. I recently told someone that I thought the meaning of that phrase had to do with the diamond mining done in Africa and the hard work of the Africans in the mines. Wanting to confirm that belief, I've been trying to find references on the web. Well, let me tell you, I was way off base!

It was Thursday morning, as I left the house at about 6:45 am, that this song came to mind. It was pre-dawn, of course, and after closing the door on my way out, I realized it had snowed during the night. My immediate reaction was one of "Oh no - not more snow! Is this ever going to end!" Whine, whine, whine.

There is no great desire here for snow now, as we have certainly had our share over this very long, extended winter. It has been a winter in the prairies that has taken a toll on the spirits - the most common phrase I have heard over the last few weeks is "I am so tired." The second most common: "It has been so cold for so long!" Wearing the multitude of layers necessary to combat the cold gets tiresome around the end of March, and in rebellion, I’ve started to leave some things at home rather than weigh myself down with the weight and worry of keeping track of these items - things like gloves or scarves, etc. As if somehow, I could influence the weather by my rather pathetic actions.

It has also been incredibly gray this winter. Our province is called "The Sunny Province", but it did not live up to its name this winter. I'm not sure, but I'm thinking I might have some sort of seasonal mood disorder because now when I see the sun, I literally cry with joy -- little tears, but tears nonetheless.

So, like I said, the snow on Thursday morning was not initially a welcome sight. Until, in the quiet of the morning, I stopped and let my gaze take in the sight around me. It was really only a quarter inch or so dusting of really big snowflakes that had fallen on Edmonton. You know the kind. The kind that twinkle and sparkle like a multitude of diamonds in the dim light of the streetlights or the early morning gray/purple twilight. And as I watched my feet walking along their diamond-studded path to the day's beginning, I thought how often God introduces beauty into events and circumstances that are quite ugly or unwelcome. As if to say, "With everything, there is good and bad, beauty and ugliness, pain and comfort, etc. You will see both in all circumstances. What will you choose to embrace?"

Similar is our choice to know Christ. You don’t have to be very old to know that the joys in this world are temporal in nature. You can be happy in our job and lose it. You can make lots of money in our job, but you seem to spend it, and you need yet more, and more, and more, for greater happiness. You can love your particular office, and show it off to your family and friends, yet not be connected to your fellow workers. You can dump your problems on your spouse and temporarily find release, until your spouse gets tired of being dumped on . . . and then your spouse dumps you. You can love your house, but if it is empty, it will not satisfy you for long. You can love your food so much that it makes you overweight and reluctant to move, and then as you suffer joint pain or diabetes or any number of other ailments, you can come to hate that food to which you are addicted. You can love your wine until one day, you wake up and realize years have passed with little but bad memories to show for them.

There is one thing you can love safely that will never leave you nor forsake you – Christ himself. He died for the sake of your sins, so that you could know him intimately, mature with him in your heart, and yes, so you would see the holy city, filled with the spirit of God and sparkling like a gem. And perhaps, as you walk along the streets in that sparkling holy city, you will remember a time when you made a choice. A choice to walk with diamonds on the soles of your shoes.

As Paul Simon's song ends, so I chose on Thursday and pray to keep choosing:

"People say I'm crazy
I got diamonds on the soles of my shoes
Well that's one way to lose
These walking blues
Diamonds on the soles of your shoes"