A personal reflection

There's a window in my apartment that overlooks a small strip of ground between the building and the bayou. For the past several weeks there has been an abundance of goldenrod growing, with their brilliant golden yellow flowers on stalks up to a meter tall. For those of you who do not know what goldenrod looks like, this picture is an excellent representation of what I have been seeing.

http://epod.usra.edu/archive/epodviewer.php3?oid=108384


In the past day, however, as the weather has cooled, the goldenrods still stand but the flowers have lost their golden color and the flower heads are now a beige white. In a matter of one day these flowers that commanded the landscape and demanded that all eyes turn to them have become virtually unnoticeable and the entire plant is practically invisible, since the eye is now drawn past them, to look at the bayou. When the flowers were golden their brilliance "intercepted" the eye, demanding that one look at the flowers. The brilliance of the gold was like a curtain, a psychological curtain, where someone standing outside and gazing at the landscape would stop short in their viewing, captured by the vivid demands of the goldenrod. And all of that power to capture is gone, through the natural turning of the seasons, in just a day's time.

It is a reminder that even good things, such as beauty, can blind one to what is standing right behind it. And it is also a reminder that gold, in all its forms, can disappear in a day. When one admires gold make sure that it is true gold. True gold is the word of God and Jesus Christ, and true gold is the use of the element of gold only for what is good and pure. Love the goodness that gold can do, not the gold itself. The metal gold itself can be gone from one's possession in a day, but the goodness that is done with the gold endures, even if it turns a beige white and thus disappears into the landscape. Life is not, and should not, always be that which is the most noticeable, the loudest, or even the most beautiful. Only God and his true "gold" can have claim to being perfect beauty, who overpowers all around him, being the source of all glory. But humans can use and spend the currency of God's "gold" in imitation of the example set by the prophets, holy people, and everyday saints who "invest in life."

Exodus 25: 8-9, 11-12

"They shall make a sanctuary for me, that I may dwell in their midst. This Dwelling and all its furnishings you shall make exactly according to the pattern that I will now show you. Cast four gold rings and fasten them on the four supports of the ark, two rings on one side and two on the opposite side."

When one reads God's instructions to the Israelites regarding the use of gold in the Ark, remember that the gold rings symbolize a covenant, a loving covenant, just as much as their pragmatic use to allow the Ark to be lifted.

Leviticus 24: 3

"Thus, by a perpetual statute for you and your descendants, the lamps shall be set up on the pure gold lampstand, to burn regularly before the Lord."

God instructed Moses to have Aaron, as priest, have a sanctuary light, of olive oil burning on a pure gold stand, that is burned regularly before the tent where God would meet with his people, and dwell in their midst.

Psalm 21:1-5

Lord, the king finds joy in your power;
in your victory how greatly he rejoices!
You have granted him his heart's desire;
you did not refuse the prayer of his lips. Selah.

For you welcomed him with goodly blessings;
you place on his head a crown of pure gold.
He asked life of you; you have it to him,
length of days forever.

King David praised God's blessings as being like a crown of pure gold, where the true gold is God giving him life, and eternal life in God's presence.

Sirach 31: 5

The lover of gold will not be free from sin,
for he who pursues wealth is led astray by it.
Many have been ensnared by gold,
though destruction lay before their eyes;
It is a stumbling block to those who are avid for it,
a snare for every fool.

Mankind must love the gold of God, and the good that can be done with gold, not the gold itself.

1 Peter 1:6-9

In this you rejoice, although now for a while you may have to suffer through various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that is perishable even though tested by fire, may prove to be for praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Although you have not seen him you love him; even though you do not see him now yet believe in him, you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, as you attain the goal of [your] faith, the salvation of your souls.

Peter, the first Pope, given the keys by Jesus Christ, sets forth remarkable words that illuminate how gold is a symbol of purity that leads to understanding of the true gold, the love of Jesus Christ and belief in what he teaches, leading to salvation of the soul.

Revelation 21:21

The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made with a single pearl; and the street of the city was of pure gold, transparent as glass.

The angel shows St. John the Apostle a view of the new Jerusalem that is located in heaven. Because one who dwells there is one whose soul has been saved, the pathway to the gold of God has been achieved, and since there is no longer anything to learn or to strive for, the gold itself is transparent, something one could not see on earth.