“With fire We test gold, and with gold We test servants.” This is among my many favorite Baha’i sacred writings. One Baha’i gave the passage an amusing but unforgettable thought provoking twist by stating: With fire We test gold and with Roanoke We test servants.” A popular Baha’i prayer recited by many begins “O God, refresh and gladden my spirit, purify my heart, illumine my powers…” and I will always remember one well deepened Baha’i asking “Do you really know what you’re praying for? Purification is a painful process,” he remarked.
I am also ever mindful of the (not so) good old days when after setting type for the newspaper each week on the old linotype machine–a hot metal process unheard of in today’s high tech society–the used metal was dumped into a cast iron pot under which fire was applied until it was all liquefied from the steady intense heat. Then an agent was added to the pot which brought all foreign matter floating on top to easily distinguishable dross which was then skimmed off and the pure metal would remain bright and shiny ready to be poured into the casts which, after cooling, readied them for the next cycle of use.
Heat in some form has ever been and continues to be a primary source of refining not only metal but also other solid, liquid and even spiritual properties.
Few indeed may be those who make it to any measurable “gold test” for, as someone once remarked “It’s easy to be thought of as being frugal and wise when you don’t have enough money to make a fool of yourself.” I suppose we all can site instances however where it really doesn’t always take that much money. But happiness and material wealth have seldom been synonymous with spirituality.
In the Holy Bible we read: It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the gates of heaven. And again through the Baha’i Writings, God charges the materially wealthy of this new day by saying: O ye rich ones of the earth. The poor in your midst are My trust. Guard ye My trust.”
It should be obvious that our pilgrimage through this fleeting world entails a perpetual series of tests, not to be dreaded or feared, but rather to be respected and their importance appreciated. But for tests how could the genuine be distinguished from the counterfeit, the devout from the insincere, the strong from the weak or fainthearted? But for tests how could our physical, mental or spiritual progress (or lack of it) be measured? Therefore our attitude toward tests largely determines whether they make or break us.
Tests, trials and even failures, viewed in proper perspective, can all be means of purification of spirit and strengthening of character, enabling us to rise to greater heights of service and to realize our fullest potential as individuals, as a city, a nation and world society. With today’s highly advanced technology and the increasing severity of tests it is becoming more abundantly clear that with time The Earth is indeed One Country, and Mankind its Citizens.
With the obvious increase in natural and man-made disasters on the home front and abroad, it would appear that modern man may be in for some severe tests through God’s purification process before realizing our unfulfilled high calling and recognizing America’s (and yes, even Roanoke’s) unique role in the formation of a new, more peaceful world order.
