Ezekiel 1:26

The Sapphire

A sapphire stone. Ezekiel 1:26.

Our September gem is the Sapphire.

You will remember that two months ago we said the sapphire was a cousin of the ruby. So it is for both are corundum only the ruby is red and the sapphire blue.

“Sapphire” is one of the oldest words in the world. It is found in most of the ancient languages, but clever men who have studied such things tell us that the name “sapphire” was not always given to the same stone. The sapphire of the ancients, they say, was more probably a stone which we now call the lapis lazuli, a blue stone with little gold flecks in it, which looks very like the sky on a starry night. These same clever men tell us that the stone we now call the sapphire was, in the days when the Book of Revelation was written, known as the jacinth or hyacinth. Well, we are not going to worry about that. We know that the sapphire is mentioned in the Bible, and whether it is called the sapphire or the jacinth does not matter very much for our purpose.

The sapphire is, next to the diamond, the hardest stone known. In proof of this there is an old tale that a certain man once went to Rome to sell a sapphire. The purchaser said he would buy it on one condition that he might first test it. He placed it on an anvil and struck it a mighty blow with a hammer. The hammer flew in pieces and the anvil split, but the stone remained whole. We may have to take that story with a large grain of salt, but it shows what a hard stone the sapphire was supposed to be.

Ceylon has, for ages, been noted for its sapphires. They are found there as crystals in water-borne deposits of sand and gravel. But Ceylon is not their only home. They come also from Siam, Upper Burma, Kashmir, Madagascar, Australia, Tasmania, and the United States. When they come from so many places you can understand that they are not so rare as rubies; still a sapphire is one of the most valuable and lovely of gems.

The shade for a sapphire is cornflower blue, but there are sapphires of every other shade of blue you can mention, beginning at dark indigo and ending with palest sky. There is even a white or colorless variety which is so like a diamond that it takes an expert to tell the difference. There is also a wonderful kind known as the star-sapphire. In its blue depths there shines a star. With the slightest movement of the gem the star seems to move and twinkle also. This star-sapphire has been called the gem for Christmas because its shining star reminds us of the star which shone in the sky two thousand years ago, and led the Wise Men to Bethlehem.

The sapphire has always been such a favorite that virtues of all kinds have been attributed to it. In olden days it was supposed to check fevers, calm the temper, mend manners, heal quarrels, and drive away melancholy. Funny, isn't it, that a blue stone should be supposed to frighten away “the blues”? It was said also to bring happiness and good fortune to its possessor. Last, but not least, it was the emblem of truth, of constancy, and of heavenly-mindedness. No wonder, then, that it has always been a favorite with the Church, and that in the cardinal's ring of office is set a sapphire gem.

Now, the diamond has already told us to be happy, the amethyst has told us to be true and loyal, so we are left with the last meaning of the sapphire as our message for today “Be heavenly-minded.” The ruby said, “Love”; the sapphire says, “ Love what is good” Love the best. Seek what is beautiful and true. Have noble aims and high ideals. That sounds a little difficult; perhaps this story will help to explain it.

A friend was visiting the studio of the great American artist, William Merritt Chase. He admired one by one all the many beautiful paintings in the room. Then he turned to the artist and said, “Which of all these paintings do you consider your best?” The artist walked over to a large empty canvas stretched in a frame, and said, “That is my best work. I am sorry I cannot show you that picture. I am always trying to paint it, but it still creeps ahead of me. I have painted it there in my mind a thousand times, and some day, perhaps, I shall be able to paint it as I see it.”

I want you to be like that famous artist. I want you to have beautiful thoughts that you want to make real, and noble dreams that you try to make true. For, boys and girls, you are the children of today, but you are the men and women of tomorrow. You have to make the world of tomorrow, and what your thoughts and dreams are, that and exactly that the world is going to be. For you are not going to stop at mere thoughts and dreams. You are going to turn these thoughts and dreams into deeds. I tell you solemnly that you can, if you will, make this world very nearly heaven upon earth. Yes, you can. High and pure and noble thoughts mean pure and noble deeds, and each pure and noble deed is just a little bit of heaven on earth.

See, then, that your sapphire is a star-sapphire. The star of Bethlehem led the three Wise Men to Heaven Itself come down to earth. Let your star- sapphire lead you too on and up to Christ.