I realize that 'silence' isn't really an exciting topic, but I am experiencing it for the first time in quite a while tonight, so that makes it special right now. I have been camping with the kids in Quechee Vermont for the past week. We arrived on Sunday so that I could get Patrick to his Raptor Camp first thing on Monday morning, and every morning this week.
For the entire week I have been "on" with the kids - all day, all night, every day, every night. We have had some fun times here, but it takes an amazing amount of mental and physical energy to keep up with them, direct, correct, and protect them, and make sure that they get what they need and some of what they want.
As I think about our week, I find that it's actually been easier to do these things away from home - no distractions. No laundry to worry about (until I get home and the reality of camping laundry comes crashing down around me), no toys to pick up (making the kids play outside keeps the mess down), and little space to clean (although my entire house will be ready for a shake-down when the kids go back to school). I have been free to just *be* here; Be here to play with Katherine while Patrick is off learning about birds of prey. Be here to read a book while Katherine goes on an adventure in the forest behind the camper and Patrick goes fishing. Be here to watch the kids roast marshmallows, burn sparklers, and enjoy the thrills and frills of camping.
For the past few days we have even done these things with friends. But today those friends left for the next leg of a week's journey and now it is...silent.
Silence...I'm not talking about the total lack of audible sounds. I am actually surrounded by sounds; crickets, frogs, grasshoppers, and highway noise, other campers, and the relaxing sound of a campfire cracking. Perhaps what I'm thinking of isn't silence at all, rather a state of stillness. The kids are sleeping peacefully. All the campers around me have gone to bed. All that is left is me and the final flickering flames of my campfire, and the thoughts that tumble around in my head and occasionally spill out on this page.
From the stillness of this evening and the silence that seldom shows its face, I leave you with this:
"He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire. 'Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.' The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah" ~ Psalm 46:9-11
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Friday, April 2, 2010
Refining Silver
There was a group of women in a Bible study on the book of Malachi. As they were studying Chapter Three, they came across verse three which says "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver."
This verse puzzled the women and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out about the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible study.
That week this woman called up a silver smith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest in silver beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver.
As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.
The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot - then she thought again about the verse, that he sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.
She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.
The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, how do you know when the silver is fully refined? He answered: "Oh, that's easy - It's finished when I can see my image in it."
Author unknown
(I received this story in an e-mail many years ago. Recently, while recovering files from a computer crash, I rediscovered it and thought I would share it.)
This verse puzzled the women and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out about the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible study.
That week this woman called up a silver smith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest in silver beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver.
As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.
The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot - then she thought again about the verse, that he sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.
She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.
The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, how do you know when the silver is fully refined? He answered: "Oh, that's easy - It's finished when I can see my image in it."
Author unknown
(I received this story in an e-mail many years ago. Recently, while recovering files from a computer crash, I rediscovered it and thought I would share it.)
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