Dave Myers

One of the key moments in life is when you finally think you’ve met the right person, and you are seriously contemplating getting married. For anyone who has been married for any length of time, it’s pretty fun to reflect back on those early moments in your relationship and think back to who you were and what was important to you at that time.

For Jen and I, we had started dating in high school, and although we chose to go to separate colleges after graduation, we continued to date. As time progressed, it became pretty apparent to both of us that we wanted a future together.

So, as we often did during those years, we went out to eat one weekend and stopped by the Genesee Valley Mall in Flint to shop for a bit.

One of the stores that we had passed by a multitude of times with no interest at all was Osterman Jewelers. The store was located in a prime spot in the mall — right on a corner, so that foot traffic from two directions could stop in to look at things.

Jen and I decided to meander over into Osterman’s for the first time just to take a look.

When we expressed an interest, the clerk started pulling out diamonds and rings to look at, but interestingly enough, the diamonds were never just placed on the glass counter that we were able to see through.

The clerk would place the diamonds on a piece of black velvet cloth. We didn’t really pay attention to it too much, because we were so focused on the diamond, the rings, and the excitement of the moment.

What I learned later on though about the process of selling diamonds is that this is standard protocol for jewelers. I’m sure that placing the diamonds on the cloth helps to protect them and the counter, but why that practice is in place is because the diamonds shine the brightest with a black background. If you really want to get a good look at a diamond, the contrast is what reveals the diamond the best.

As I learned this a while back, it seemed to me to be a fantastic representation of the Christian life. According to the Bible, each and every one of us has black in our background — the Bible calls this sin, and as a matter of fact, we are simply born into a “fallen world” — one that has been infiltrated by sin for thousands of years. But not only are each of us born into this fallen world, every single one of us carries this sin with us.

And sin is dark. There are a lot of different sins, but none of them are good, and all of them lead to destruction in one form or another. The problem we have with this sin we carry is that none of us can really do anything about it. We can try our best to be a really “good person” and by human standards there really are some amazing people walking around this planet who are incredibly kind and generous — but that’s by my standard and other people’s standard — not God’s.

In the Old Testament, we see Jews striving to keep God’s laws and commandments. There were many people who were seriously committed to this cause, but no one was ever able to keep all of the 613 laws they were given. Their efforts may have been noble, yet they still proved to be fruitless.

As we learn later throughout the New Testament, God had given us a picture in the Old Testament of who we were and still are — a people unable to save themselves.

Most people get wigged out when someone starts talking about sin. To be honest, sin is embarrassing — or at least it should be if you care at all about what God thinks. But that’s the black background. There’s a lot of people walking around today who have a checkered past.

But, this is where the beautiful light of Christ comes in. He didn’t leave us in this black abyss with no way out. God cared so much for us that he provided a way to him through Jesus Christ.

It’s interesting in studying the life of Christ that light is often associated with him, and his teaching for us talks about being the light of the world.

The intent never was nor is to be left in the dark world of sin, but God does give us a choice to make as to whether we will continue to walk in darkness or if we walk in the light of Christ.

One of my favorite things to do is to listen to someone share their story of how they became a Christian. Every story is a miracle in its own way, for sure, but to hear stories of how people overcame drug addiction, alcoholism, a life of crime, or abuse is enthralling. People like this truly knew darkness well, yet through Jesus Christ, they walk in light now.

I understand someone not wanting to hear about the evils of sin.

But, the reality is that God’s story for us — if we reject our old sinful ways and turn to Christ’s death and resurrection for salvation — will reveal an incredible story of redemption — one with a black background, and a bright shining diamond right in the middle of it.

It’s the contrast that shows the fullness of God’s story.

Dave Myers is a retired English teacher and baseball coach from Alpena Public Schools and is the author of the books, “Swim Upstream” and “Breaking Camp.”