Sapphire - Color and Emotions

Sapphire is the official birthstone for the month of September as adopted by the American National Association of Jewelers in 1912. Sapphire is the non-red variety of corundum (the red variety of corundum is ruby). At 9.0 on the Mohs scale of hardness, sapphire is the second hardest natural mineral.

Blue is by far the most popular color for sapphires, but they can be almost any color, including yellow, green, white, colorless, pink, orange, brown, and purple. Padparadscha is the name for a rare orange-pink variety of sapphire and has a higher value than blue sapphires. The wonderful Kashmir sapphires, which were found in 1880 after an avalanche had come down in a height of 5000 m, and which were intensively mined then for eight years, have for all times set the standard for our ideas of the color of a top quality sapphire.

Blue is also the favorite color of about 50 per cent of the population, men and women alike. This color, which is strongly associated with sapphire, is also linked to emotions such as sympathy and harmony, friendship and loyalty. These emotions belong to features which are permanent and reliable – emotions where overwhelming and fiery passion is not the main element, but rather composure, mutual understanding and unshakeable trust. Sapphire blue has thus become a color related to anything permanent and reliable, and this is one of the reasons why women in many countries settle on Sapphire for their engagement rings. Sapphire symbolizes loyalty and faithfulness, while at the same time expressing love and yearning.

Sympathy, harmony, friendship, loyalty, faithfulness, competence, love. Do these words remind you of anything, or perhaps anyone? They sure remind me of Jesus. Jesus is most certainly sympathetic, and brings harmony to even a raging sea with just the sound of His voice (Mark 4:37-39). He wants to be our friend, and is loyal and faithful to that end, even unto His own suffering, and why? Because He loves us (John 3:16). And His love is both permanent and reliable.

NEXT POST: *The Gems of Exodus and Revelation - Sapphire

*The Gems of Exodus and Revelation are presented in twelve monthly installments and will explore the similarities between the stones in the ephod (breastplate) of Aaron and the stones of the New Jerusalem, and their relation to Jesus.

Alexandrite and Our Never-Changing God

Alexandrite is a rare gemstone named after the Russian tsar Alexander II (1818-1881), the very first crystals having been discovered in April 1834 in the emerald mines near the Tokovaya River in the Urals. The discovery was made on the day the future tsar came of age. Although alexandrite is a relatively young gemstone, it certainly has a noble history. Alexandrite is the faceted birthstone for the month of June.

The most sensational feature about this stone, however, is its surprising ability to change its colors. Green or bluish-green in daylight, alexandrite turns a soft shade of red, purplish-red or raspberry red in artificial light. This unique optical characteristic makes it one of the most valuable gemstones of all, especially in fine qualities.

Alexandrite reminds me of God's Love for us.

God's Love for us doesn't change, but everything in His Kingdom and all of His creation is in a constant state of change.
Watch the image above.
The alexandrite doesn't change shape, or its facets become re-arranged even when the colors constantly change within the stone.

God has a perfect will, a plan, for everything and everyone. And although things seem to constantly change around us within that plan...good changes, bad changes, planned changes and surprise changes, we can remain secure in the faithfulness of God’s Love for us which is constant and never changing (1 Chronicles 16:34).

The color change of alexandrite from red to green reminds me of how the (red) blood of Jesus Christ makes it possible for us to have (green) life everlasting. You cannot have one without the other, and both abide within God's Love. Jesus (His death and resurrection) is God's greatest expression of His Love for us (John 3:16 and Romans 5:8). I'm so glad He gave us alexandrite, another example of His creation that if examined closely with an eye to deeper things than its mere beauty, gives us an example of Him and His Love for us.

If you want to read more about alexandrite just click on the image. If you want to read more about God's Love just pick up the Bible.

NEXT POST: Time + Truth = Trust