Hi...
This is a picture of Dak. She was the only triplett that survived and she was the runt! At the time this picture was taken, she was about 3 weeks old and had grown tremendously. When she was born she was the tiniest little goat that I ever saw....and the prettiest one, too!
A wise religious teacher headed a small community where one man caused problems by his gossip. The gossip turned into backbiting and slander, and his venemous remarks hurt his victims. Many complained to the teacher, who summoned the slanderer.
The accused appeared to be very remorseful. He apologised to the teacher and seemed ready for penance. The teacher said, "I want you to take your pillow case, fill it with feathers, and bring it to me."
Thinking that this was his penalty, he obeyed. The teacher then said, "Now I want you to take this pillow case filled with feathers to the top of the nearby mountain and empty it." He readily obeyed and watched as the many feathers were carried by the wind and tossed about the mountainside. Some fell upon the rocks on the side of the mountain; some floated to the ground at the bottom of the mountain; still others were carried into the distance. He returned to the teacher and reported that he had completed the discipline. Then the wise teacher said, "Now I want you find every feather and return it to the pillow case."
It is easy to slander a person and to say "I'm sorry". But it's impossible to undo the damage that has been done.
(For more in depth on lashon hara, please leave comments in the comment section and I will add another post on this important subject....)
Do you know how silver is made????
First of all the silver is crushed into small pieces and then placed into a crucible. Having prepared a fire of just the right degree of heat, the silversmith places the crucible over the fire, and then watches carefully as the silver is melted. Eventually impurities will rise to the top of the crucible. Carefully these are scraped off by the silversmith. Then a hotter fire is built, and once again the silver is subjected to the heat. Now under this new intensity of fire, more and different impurities are released.
The silversmith never leaves the silver unattended in the fire...lest the silver be damaged by too much heat. Each time the fire is increased and the impurities are removed, the silversmith bends over the crucible to look at himself in the melted silver. At first his image is dim...his face barely discernible. However with each new fire, his image becomes more distinct. When he finally sees himself clearly, he knows all the impurities are gone. The refining is complete. So it is with us. G-d breaks us and puts us into the crucible of suffering for one purpose and one purpose alone...to make us into His image.
Proverbs 17:3..a refining pot for silver and gold.. HaShem tests hearts
Proverbs 25:4...when dross is removed...a vessel can emerge for the Refiner
Psalm 12:6-7...The Words of HaShem are pure..like silver...refined sevenfold.*...
Psalm 66:10..For You examine us..You refine as if refining silver......
Ezekial 22:20-22...As silver is melted...so will you be...so you will know that I am HaShem
Zechariah 13:9...I will ...purify as one purifies silver....
Malachi 3:3,6...He will sit smelting & purifying silver, He will purify the children of Levi and refine them like gold and like silver and they will be for HaShem presenters of offerings in righteousness....
*I have been told by jewelry makers that it takes 7 firings to purify silver.
Return to My reproof! Behold, I will express My Spirit to you; I will make My Words known to you. I will educate you and enlighten you in which path to go, I will advise you with (what) My Eye (has seen). If you seek it as (if it were) silver, if you search for it as (if it were) hidden treasures...then you will understand the fear of HaShem and discover the knowledge of G-d.(Pro 1:23, Ps 32:8, Pro 2:4-5)
From these promises, I see that when we repent and turn (which is what teshuvah is!) then G-d will teach us. And if we seek His Words and Commandments, then He promises that we will understand and find knowledge of Him. Thanks be to HaShem!