On Polished Wedding Rings

I always thought that wedding rings should be simple, like tiny little handcuffs that you would use to happily shackle yourself to another person for the rest of your lives. And so, choosing a wedding band was easy when my husband and I married nearly five years ago. It was a simple, white gold band with the inscription Quidquid Eveniat, which is translated from the Latin as Come What MayIt was almost a summation of our vows to each other. Whatever should come our way, we would choose to bind our lives to one another, to love and honor each other for the rest of our lives.

Like many others, I remember looking down at my hand on my wedding day, watching the light reflect off of this polished, precious metal. I thought of how I would wear it for years to come, that it would be my perpetual accessory, that perhaps I would pass it on to one of our children. You can imagine my devastation when, a few days later, I noticed the first, obvious scratch across my ring. Nobody else would have noticed it, but I did and I would for days to come. I noticed the next scratch, and the next five scratches. I noticed it grow dull, and after a few years, it held no hint that at one point you could have seen a reflection in it.

The lackluster loop on my left hand had grown a bit tight, so I recently went to have the ring resized. After he was finished, the jeweler polished it, along with my engagement ring. I was so excited to put it on, to remember how new and beautiful it had once been before becoming so faded. When it was returned to me and I slipped it back on my finger, I was shocked, and a little disappointed, at how differently it looked. Yes, it was lovely. It fit perfectly, it shone brightly, it looked brand new, but it was not the ring I had grown accustomed to. I felt sad, and I missed my faded, scratched, plain band.

ring 1

Weddings are beautiful. The flowers are gorgeous, the attire is fabulous, the photos are pristine, and the wedding rings are polished to perfection. It’s easy to see beauty at a wedding, but you might have to look a bit closer to see the beauty in a marriage. Marriages are beautiful. The flowers come picked from your own garden, and track dirt onto your sidewalk. The attire is wrinkled from being left in the dryer for days on end, because there are better things to do than laundry. The photos have a few more dark circles under the eyes from staying up with crying babies, and a messy house for a backdrop. The wedding rings are scratched and worn by home renovation projects, playing on playgrounds with kids, and cleaning the stove, yet again. Marriages are beautiful because they are promises to love, come what may.

There is beauty in a newly polished wedding ring, and in a scratched and faded one, too.

Lauren Meyers

Lauren Meyers

Lauren Meyers is a 28 year old wife and a mother. She experienced the love of the Lord on a high school retreat, picked up a Bible and the Liturgy of the Hours, and hasn't turned back since. Holding a BA in Classics and Religious Studies and an MA in Education, she currently works as a Campus Minister in Indiana.

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