Saintly Sips
with Deacon Ken

The saying “diamonds are a girl’s best friend” was a popular expression that suggested that women valued diamonds highly. It was a phrase that was made famous by Marilyn Monroe in the 1953 movie, “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.” But there is also another saying, penned from a line in William Shakespeare’s play, “The Merchant of Venice,” where the line is, “All that glitters is not gold.”

 

“All that glitters is not gold,” is a cliché that means appearances can be deceiving and not everything that looks valuable or true is so.

 

Although gold is indeed valuable, as it was one of the gifts of the Magi to the infant Jesus, not just as King, but the KING OF KINGS, it is not always PURE GOLD! We hear in 1 Peter 1:6-7: “In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, so that by genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, through perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” But what does this mean? How is “gold tested?”

 

Testing gold is a process by which gold is heated to a high temperature with fire, thereby refining the gold. It burns away all the impurities to leave behind pure 24 karat gold.

 

Although much of the gold jewelry that people buy in the United States is 14 karat gold, some countries have 10 karat gold, 18 karat gold, and even 24 karat gold. When I had the opportunity to buy 24 karat gold jewelry for my wife, the vendor always mentioned that she needed to be careful with it when wearing it as 24 karat gold is very soft. That is, it was easier to bend as all the impurities are no longer present.

 

We too are “tested by fire.” That is, our faith is tested by the fires of suffering and humiliation. It is God’s way of purifying our souls by “burning away” the sins of pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony, and sloth so that what is left, is a pure soul. A soul that is completely free from sin, fully devoted to God, and characterized by deep love, virtue, and a strong connection to the divine; essentially, a soul that embodies the highest ideal of human spiritual potential, reflecting God’s grace in its purest form.

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God Bless you all,

Deacon Ken