I made quince and orange jelly today. It's quite labourious; lots of chopping of the fruit and simmering until it becomes pulp. While it's simmering, you have to skim all the frothy stuff which rises to the surface. I'm not sure what this is, but if you leave it in there, it stays there when you bottle the jelly and makes it cloudy or sits on the top. It's not desirable to have this frothy stuff in the jelly. It's the simmering process brings the impure froth to the top of the syrup and I was thinking that this is not unlike suffering in the life of a Christian, or indeed anyone. The suffering is what brings the impure dross to the top of our souls, and then God can cleanse it away.... we can see it for what it is and choose to discard it.
We don't like to suffer, or have bad stuff happen. But it often does. But I know, that like when I skimmed the froth off the simmering quinces, so, as we struggle with bad stuff like sorrow, conflict, suffering and anxiety, God is able to skim off the dross of our lives, as we become more pure; more transparent; more able to have the light of God's love reflected and discovered in the quickened, clear, rich depths of our soul's house.
That's a good thing; that's a good thing, coming as a result of a bad thing. Good one, God.
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