Branimir Schubert

The closest I have ever been to real diamonds was during my days as a graduate student in France. No, my parents were not rich. They did not shower me with expensive jewelry. On the contrary, to support my studies, I worked as a security guard in nearby Geneva, Switzerland, where I would spend the night patrolling various businesses that included world-famous banks, watch factories, and well-known jewelry shops. I always knew that “diamonds are forever,” and have known from the start that my wife will probably never own one. Thus, I accepted the fact that “diamonds are forever” out of my reach.

Pastoral marriages face extraordinary challenges. What is the “glue” that keeps them together?

The interview and meeting described in the opening paragraph of this article are fictional in and of themselves. However, the facts, figures, and the interview questions presented in the article are based on actual study growing out of a questionnaire sent out by the author to nearly a thousand Seventh-day Adventist denominational leaders throughout the world