A few weeks ago I took delivery of some rare Oak Burl Wood. This wood, on the outside (see picture at right), appeared to be a disappointing burl due to its plane dirty brown color. It was plenty bumpy too. I decided to go ahead and make a few items from it to see what it would yield when finished.

Not until after I had finished making that first pen was I able to see just how beautiful this wood actually was. This was definitely a case of "beauty (or lack thereof) is only skin deep." I went ahead and made a couple of other items from the wood and each time I took what was essentially a muddy-brown chunk of wood, and ultimately revealed the inner beauty that existed in the wood.

I was reminded of a song by Bob Marlowe called "Silversmith" (on his CD titled "Healing Light") that talks about an old tarnished silver chalice that nobody wanted because it was all tarnished and gray. However, once a committed silversmith went to work on it, it turned in to a beautiful chalice once again. He also makes reference to the fact that the Lord redeems our days, "He takes a tarnished history, and restores us by His loving ways. He want to make us beautiful again."

The Lord does want to make us beautiful again and transform us through the gift of the Holy Spirit.

¹⁷Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ¹⁸And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which come from the Lord, who is the Spirit. - II Corinthians 3:17-18 (NIV)

⁵Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come." - II Corinthians 5:5 (NIV)

As Paul says in Ephesians 1:17:

¹⁷I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you may know him better. - Ephesians 1:17 (NIV)

I also pray this for you and that the transforming power of the Holy Spirit be alive in you and that your inner beauty can be revealed through the loving care of our Father. I pray that you are ever mindful of the fact that your true citizenship is indeed in Heaven.

In Christ,