Once upon a time there was a blacksmith who, after a youth full of excesses, decided to surrender his soul to God.
For many years he worked diligently, practiced charity, but despite all his dedication, nothing seemed to go right in his life. Quite the opposite: His problems and debts accumulated more and more.
One fine afternoon, a friend who had visited him and who pitied his difficult situation, commented:
-It is really strange that, just after you decided to become a man who fears GOD, your life began to worsen. I do not wish to weaken your faith, but despite all your belief in the spiritual world, nothing has improved.
The blacksmith did not answer immediately. He had already thought about it many times, without understanding what was happening in his life.
However, as he did not want to leave his friend without an answer, he began to speak and ended up finding the explanation he was looking for. Here is what the blacksmith said:
-I receive in this workshop steel that has not yet been worked and I need to transform it into swords. Do you know how this is done? First I heat the steel sheet in intense heat until it turns red. Then, without any mercy, I take the heaviest hammer and apply blows until the piece acquires the desired shape.
Soon, it is plunged into a bucket of cold water and the entire workshop fills with the sound of steam, while the piece cracks and screams because of the sudden change in temperature. The blacksmith gave a long pause, and continued: Sometimes, the steel that comes into my hands cannot withstand this treatment.
The heat, the hammer blows and the cold water end up filling it with cracks. And I know that it will never transform into a good sword blade. So I simply place it on the scrap iron pile that you saw at the entrance of my workshop.
Another pause and the blacksmith concluded:
- I know that God is putting me in the fire of afflictions. I have accepted the blows that life gives me, and sometimes I feel as cold and insensitive as the water that makes the steel suffer. But the only thing I ask is:
"My God, do not give up until I manage to take the form that the Lord expects of me. Try in whatever way you think best, for as long as you wish - But never allow me to be placed on the scrap iron pile".
Text sent by Alessandro Macari .
alessandro_macari@hotmail.com