The Pearl

When I graduated college, I purchased a college ring.
It was not your ordinary school ring.
It was a gold rose.
It was a beautiful ring, stylish, feminine, without a trace of the school anywhere.

No writing.
No name.
No symbols.
Just the significance in the rose itself.

The only thing that set one ring apart from another was the gemstone at the center.
That choice of gemstone made your ring unique.
You could also choose a shiny gold or antique gold finish.

I chose antique gold.
I chose a small pearl for the center.

I wore my ring all the time.
It was a conversation piece.
No one ever believed that it was my college ring.

I think that is what I liked the most about my college ring.
I had my high school ring.
It was square and bulky and not very feminine.

Everyone had the same blue stone.
The only difference was your choice of white gold or yellow gold.
You could choose symbols for the side of the ring, symbols that represented your activities.

I wore that ring all the time until the college ring took its place.

Driving home from college one day, I looked down at my ring.
The pearl was missing.
The ring had an ugly hole in the center where the pearl should have been.

I got home and searched the floor of my car.
I looked on the seat.
I looked everywhere.

The pearl was gone.

I called the company that is known for its school rings.
I told them the situation and asked what could be done.
We have a representative coming to your school next week. Bring your ring to him.

That is what I did.
I did not know what to expect.
Leaving my ring with him for an undisclosed amount of time was very hard to do.

My hand felt empty; nothing on the finger where the ring had been.
Was I smart to get another pearl or should I choose another gemstone?
Would the new pearl fall out like the old one?

The waiting seemed to go on forever.
Finally, almost a month later the company called me.
My ring would be sent to me special delivery in the mail.

I remember when the package came.
I couldn’t wait to put the ring back on my finger.
I opened the box and was astonished.

Instead of antique gold, a shiny gold ring was in the box.
The band was thinner.
The pearl was the only thing that looked anything like my original ring.

I called the company.
Of course they denied mixing up my ring with another.
Of course they said the ring I received was the ring I left with them; they gave me a receipt.

A receipt for an antique gold rose ring with a pearl in the center.
I talked to the manager of the manager of the manager.
Finally someone admitted that they might have gotten the ring mixed up with another.

We do a large business. There is no way of knowing where your ring is.
And that was the end of that.
In my drawer is a box that contains a rose ring with a pearl in the center.
It is not mine.

The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value he went away and sold everything he had and bought it. (Matthew 13:44,45)

I lost my original ring but I had my pearl.
Cold comfort at the time and still a bit frustrating every time I look at that box.
I have since put the whole situation in perspective.

I lost a ring but I have a pearl.
I have a Priceless Pearl.
The kingdom of heaven is mine, now and not yet.

As a sinner saved by grace, all of my possessions are fleeting.
None of them are truly mine.
But the Pearl is the one thing that lasts, the one thing that is mine because of Jesus.

The ring that is not mine became an object lesson for the Kingdom.
I went from manager to manager, phone call to phone call.
I lost my ring but gained a pearl.

I gained a Pearl.
The Kingdom of heaven that waits for me when one day I will go Home.
Home to a place where no rings are needed, no possessions are brought.

Home where we will have everything we need because we have Jesus.
I have my Pearl.
I am so absolutely delighted.

It is fine that I lost all that glittered.
I gained the Priceless Pearl.
That can never be taken away.

Thank you sweet Jesus for taking away what does not matter and giving me everything.