Poem for the Sixth Sunday of Easter

The Elixir

A man that looks on glass,

on it may stay his eye;

or if he pleaseth, through it pass,

and then the heaven espy.

All may of thee partake:

nothing can be so mean,

which, with this tincture “for thy sake”

will not grow bright and clean.

A servant with this clause

makes drudgery divine:

who sweeps a room, as for thy laws,

makes that and th’ action fine.

This is the famous stone

that turneth all to gold:

for that which God doth touch and own

cannot for less be told.

George Herbert 1593 -1633

How can doing the daily chores be magically transformed? George Herbert, a priest and a poet, called this poem (which we now sing as a hymn) The Elixir.  There was a great desire in the Middle Ages to find a source of unlimited wealth, something that could change base metals into gold. It might be an Elixir, a wonderful liquid potion, or a strange solid, the Philosopher’s Stone.                                                                                     

George Herbert knows that we have something much simpler, more wonderful and more tangible within our grasp to transform our chores, to make drudgery divine: we can pray that all we are and all we do will be for God, for his sake.                                                                                      

You might make a very simple prayer like Here I am.  On the job for you, Lord!  And use it to check in with God as you get out of bed in the morning and at any time you can during the day and when you get into bed at night.  Offer your day, every single little bit of it, into God’s hands to be used for his glory, for goodness sake!                                   

TL