There once was a king who commissioned a great and beautiful crown made. It was made of pure gold and had only the clearest, most pure and precious gems laid in it. The crown took a long time to make, but once it was perfected the king wished to share his crown's beauty with his most trusted subjects, prior to his sharing it with the entire kingdom.
The king invited everyone he could think of that would appreciate his crown and people he knew he could trust to a great feast. At the climax of the celebrations, he brought forth the crown and began to pass it around so that his subjects could appreciate it's beauty.
At first, everything went well. But as the crown changed hands and moved further down the table and away from the king, it often passed to hands that were less worthy. People began to lust after the precious jewels laid in the crown, until one removed a small knife from his pocket and popped one out. The crown became imperfect, if still glorious. Once the trend was started, it became easy for those around the table to note holes in the crown. And if others had removed these pure and precious gems, why not me? Others thought that the crown looked less balanced with more jewels on one side than the other, so in an effort to correct that balance other gems were removed. Some, noting the gaping holes in the crown sought to fill them in, either by scraping gold into the gap or by filling it with their own gems - always of lesser quality and perfection than the original.
So it went around the table. Some of the finials were removed in an effort to make the crown more simple, lighter, and easier to hold and wear. The gold began to be tarnished and worn. and overall the condition of the crown deteriorated significantly. Some around the table had only the best of intentions. Others were rogues and purposefully sought to discredit the king while enriching themselves.
When the crown finally made its way back to the king, he was disappointed to find that the men he thought he could trust had abused that trust so greatly. The crown was almost completely unrecognizable, deformed, misshapen, and denuded of many of the pure and precious jewels.
The king knew he could not present this crown to his subjects. It would diminish his glory and make people lose confidence in his ability.
So he had his crown maker melt down the old crown and recast it - using the same gold and same mold from which the original had been cast, but restoring from his unlimited coffers the pure and precious jewels that had been removed. Once restored to it's earlier glory, the crown was able to then go forward into the world, glorious and beautiful. This time, the king went with the crown wherever it went, to ensure its safety, continuity, and purity. The crown was accessible to all and wherever it went it enlightened people's minds and inspired them, leading many to praise the king and his glory.
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