Forged by a Master

It is not everyday you see a blacksmith working. I suspect this one in Prague was demonstrating for tourists only. He was selling small handmade iron items nearby.

I find this artisan work and artistry fascinating. Perhaps it is because it is a trade from ancient times. There is not much call for the blacksmith trade since factories started manufacturing tools last century. Neither is there much call nowdays for handbeaten ploughs, swords and armour. 

The blacksmith works mainly with iron. He heats up the iron in a fire and then hammers it on the anvil to change its shape and to strengthen the final object. Sounds simple but I suspect the mastery is complex.

The process of heating and cooling and of hammering and shaping is equally simple and yet complex. The metal is heated just so to be malleable enough to be reshaped and also tempered enough so it remains strong and is not brittle when cool. 

I often think my life in the hands of my Master and Heavenly Father can be likened to an artisan blacksmith’s work. At times I have wondered if the fire of life would consume me and if the hammering would break me. Under the hand of another perhaps it would. I take heart knowing that in His hands the process is necessary if the final object is to be worthy of the work it is shaped for. 

The Blacksmith does not only create. He also repairs and reshapes. The object must go back into the fire and be beaten with the hammer on the anvil once again. And so with my life, if I am to be useful I too will find myself repaired and reshaped by the Master’s hand. I am forged by a Master blacksmith too.