Metal & Fire

Proverb

A gem can’t be worked without friction; a man won’t be perfected without trials.

Poem

Watch the smith with his hammer
Crashing it down;
Watch the hammer strike the anvil
Forging the bronze;
Watch the bronze cool and shape
Becoming the armour.

Meditation

What we are, what we can become, 
is forged in the heat and struggle of life. 
From the combination of metal and fire 
can come artist’ wonderful creations – 
beautiful statues, bronze mirrors, or even weapons.
Struggle and difficulty are not to be avoided 
or resented, for they help us to become.

©Loes Raaphorst 10/2005