Malachi 3:3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.
In the Bible, the purification of the believer is compared to the purification of fine metals. Supposedly, silver and goldsmiths heat their metals until they are very, very hot. During that process, according to what I have read, during this process, smiths never leave the room or takes their eyes off their wares. They wait and watch until all of the yucky stuff, the dross, is burned off, and only the very purest, most precious metal, the really good stuff, is left. Only then do the smiths turn off the heat.
This week, I found this poem about the refining process. It's absolutely beautiful, and I wish I could put the whole thing here. Instead, I'm just sharing the middle. You can read the rest of the poem here.
A CLOTH OF FINE GOLD
By Dorothy Walters
...What do you know of furnaces?
This is a sun that returns
again and again, refining, igniting,
pouring your spirit
through a cloth of delicate gold
until all dross is taken…
This is a sun that returns
again and again, refining, igniting,
pouring your spirit
through a cloth of delicate gold
until all dross is taken…
Tabatha Yeatts is hosting Poetry Friday at THE OPPOSITE OF INDIFFERENCE.
Fascinating! Thanks for sharing this with us.
ReplyDelete"pouring your spirit
ReplyDeletethrough a cloth of delicate gold"
So lovely! Thank you, too, for posting the link to the whole poem.
A.
Are you feeling tried by fire, friend? Our two days of "fire" are this coming week. I have learned not to even hope for the best. What will be will be. We have worked our tails off. What else can we do?
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