Taken off of Google Images
“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith - more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire - may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” -1 Peter 2:6-7
Cherry Red Vows
I choose you
For richer or poorer,
In sickness and health,
For better or worse,
‘Til death do we part.
A scarred Blacksmith
Stands beside water and a furnace,
Two sheaves of steel in hand -
Both reflecting an image of their Creator-
Lying their heads upon the anvil
Ready to be hammered.
Fairy tales bow before
The realities of life.
Happily ever after not
Fought in a day;
But on the moment by moment
Daily submitting to the duress
Of the Blacksmith’s swage.
In fire and pressure,
He punches through
The individual impurities,
Drifting through their separate stories.
In their yielding to His will,
He welds their purposes into one.
The annealed heart pliable
To His mind,
Trials becomes the forge
In which tempering proves
His peace for each piece of steel.
Together, the Damascus blade
Finished with lines that mirror
The love of the Master Craftsman.
In the endurance of pain
Within the praise of His twisting,
May the glory of His Name
Usher an unfailing faith,
A persevering hope:
A joy having its perfect work
Unveiling a consistent
And an unconditional love,
Initially scarfed by the Blacksmith’s staff.
Blacksmithing terminology:
- Cherry red: optimal temperature (1,500-1,600 degrees F) for which to forge metal
- Anvil: the metal “block” which steel lays while being hammered into its desired form
- Swage: a tool used for shaping the metal
- Punching and Drifting: creating holes and reshaping the metal
- Twisting: Rotating one part of the metal while holding the other, often for decorative purposes
- Scarfing: tapering the ends of two metals, readying them for a forge weld
- Forge welding: heating two pieces metal to a white-hot temperature and hammering them together
- Annealing: Heating metal and allowing it to cool slowly, so the metal is softer and more workable
- Tempering: reheating hardened steel to a lower temperature to reduce brittleness and increase toughness
