There was once a very wealthy king who owned many beautiful things and statues which were made by the best sculptors in the land. Of all of his belongings, his very favourite possession was the most glorious diamond you can imagine.

It was huge around his hand. And it was pure – clear and flawless, without any marks or blemishes. He loved to sit with the diamond, gazing at its beauty and perfection.

One day when the king went to look at his diamond, he discovered to his horror that it had a long, deep scratch. He couldn’t believe his eyes! Immediately he sent for all of the best diamond cutters in his kingdom.

One by one they came to inspect the diamond. Each looked closely and then shook  his head. The scratch was too deep and if they tried to polish, it might break.

Finally one last diamond carver came before the king. He examined it closely and he said, “I will fix it. Leave the diamond with me for two weeks and I will return it to you better than ever. But, you must not disturb me and wait for it until it is finished. The King agreed.

As for the diamond carver, day after day, night after night, he worked on the diamond. Bit by bit, he worked on the scratch. It was slow and tedious work. He knew he had to work carefully or the diamond could crack into pieces. Finally it was finished and handed to the king.

When presented, the king gasped at what he saw. Where there had once been a scratch, a horrible flaw in his precious diamond, there was now an exquisitely beautiful flower carved into the diamond. Unable to polish the scratch out of the diamond, the carver had instead turned the flaw into something beautiful.

The king loved his diamond more than ever. Whenever he gazed upon it, he was reminded that even something imperfect or flawed can become something exclusively beautiful.

Can you find the Laws of Freedom in this story?