The blacksmith
Lynell Waterman tells the story of the blacksmith who, after a youth full of excesses, decided to give his soul to God. For many years he worked hard, practiced charity, but despite all his dedication, nothing seemed to be going right in his life. Quite the contrary: her problems and his debts were piling up day by day.
One beautiful afternoon, a friend who was visiting him, and who felt compassion for his difficult situation, commented to him:
– It really is very strange that just after you decided to become a God-fearing man, your life started to get worse. I do not wish to weaken your faith, but despite your beliefs in the spirit world, nothing has improved.
The blacksmith did not answer right away: he had already thought about it many times, without understanding what was happening in his life. However, since he did not want to leave his friend unanswered, he began to speak and ended up finding the explanation he was looking for. Here is what the blacksmith said:
– “In this workshop, I receive the steel still unworked and I have to transform it into swords. Do you know how this is done? First, I heat the steel sheet to an infernal heat, until it turns red. Then, without any mercy I take the heaviest hammer and give it several blows, until the piece is the desired shape, then I plunge it into a bucket of cold water and the whole shop fills with the noise of steam, because the piece bursts and screams because from the violent temperature change. I have to repeat this process until I get the perfect sword: once is not enough.”
The blacksmith paused for a long time, lit a cigarette, and continued:
– “Sometimes, the steel that comes into my hands cannot withstand this treatment. The heat, the hammering and the cold water end up filling it with cracks. At that moment, I realize that it will never become a good sheet of steel. And then, I just leave it on the mountain of old iron you see at the entrance to my smithy.
He paused one more time, and the blacksmith finished:
-I know that God is placing me in the fire of afflictions. I accept the hammer blows that life gives me, and sometimes I feel as cold and insensitive as water that makes steel suffer. But the only thing I think is: “My God, don’t give up, until I manage to take the form that You expect of me.
Try it any way you see fit, for as long as you like, but never put me on the old iron mountain of souls.”
Your truth is measured by your ability to give unconditional love despite your loneliness and the emptiness of the world. May God be with you in your search.
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