Precious Stones

In the wonderful stories told by Rabbi Nachman, there is one about a King who was childless. He asked the Jews to pray for him. A Tzaddik (righteous/holy man) came forward and promised the King that he and his wife wold have a child. Sure enough, a bright, beautiful daughter was born to the royal couple. Later, the King longed for a son. Again the Jews were asked to pray. The first Tzaddik had already passed away, but they searched until they found a hidden Tzaddik. He went to the King, and instructed the King to take every type of precious stone, grind them up, put the powder in a cup of wine, and drink half, and give half to the Queen. (This sort of remedy was not uncommon in folk medicine) The Tzaddik promised that they would have a son, whose body would be made all of jewels. They did have a son, handsome and wise, but he wasn't made of jewels. The princess was very jealous of the boy. Her only consolation was that he was not made of jewels. Once, the boy fell while playing, and his sister put a bandage on his finger which had been cut. To her horror, she saw a jewel under the skin! Her jealousy knew no bounds, and she went to a sorcerer to curse the boy. The sorcerer did so. The prince became leprous all over his body. Again the Tzaddik was summoned, who was able to undo the curse. When the leprous skin fell off, it was seen that the entire body of the prince was precious stones.
We are all made of "precious stones"; in G-d's image. Sometimes this is very hidden. Only in moments of adversity, when ego concerns fall away, does our Divine essence shine through. We all suffer, at one time or another, persecution, jealousy, hate. Many people succumb to this suffering, grow morose; unable to function. But for others, the true beauty of the "real me" shines through. They don't just SHOW their inner worth, they BECOME their inner worth. In fact, they learn that they WERE the precious jewels all along.