Black Coal

Asking "Do you believe in the restoration of a broken life?", Sanctus Real sends the listener hunting for treasure in unlikely places. Faces hide things, and "beneath the surface of time and space" there "could be a treasure that you'd only see thru the eyes of grace." The chorus condenses the idea into a plain proverb: "Looking for a diamond in the black coal... If you never look then you're never gonna know."

The second verse names the cost of neglect, "it's so sad when something so radiate is kept from the light," and then names who changes things: "I've seen divine transformation that Jesus provides." A jeweler working on "a lifeless gemstone" supplies the picture of Christ making a person shine. The bridge slows into "precious diamonds, brilliant shining" and lands on "a good heart is just like a" diamond.

Scripture lines up with it: God looks at the heart rather than appearances (1 Samuel 16:7), keeps treasure in clay jars (2 Corinthians 4:7), and gives beauty for ashes (Isaiah 61:3).