Agatized

When I got home from work tonight, I began unloading the dishwasher. Sometimes mindless tasks calm me down. I’ve been agitated the last few days over the political unrest in America. I am taken aback by the hatred I see and hear. It can be overwhelming.

So as I was taking out an agatized wood bowl, and I made a connection. I can be like this wood bowl!

We’ve had these wood bowls since the mid 1980’s. I have all shapes and sizes, and since that time, I’ve only had one crack. We purchased them from a company in Sheboygan WI, named Ellinger’s Agitized Wood Inc. They have been making these products since the 1950’s, and still sell them online. This is from their website:

“Ellinger’s Agatized Wood Inc. began after the original owners Walt and Hubert Ellinger saw wood dishware being manufactured with natural wood powder and resins using compression molding while on a trip to Germany. This has resulted in us producing durable, waterproof, lightweight, and dishwasher safe wood bowls and tablewares, suitable for both hot or cold foods. They will not crack, chip, or warp after may years of use. These products are made to last a lifetime!”

Science geek that I am, I had to look up the process. It is called silicfication. The material is formed by this process of compression to preserve the structure of the wood. In addition to being known as agatized wood, it is also called petrified wood.

Petrified wood comes from the Latin root petro meaning ‘rock’ or ‘stone’; literally ‘wood turned into stone’ is the name given to a special type of fossilized remains of vegetation. Petrifaction is the result of a tree or tree-like plants having been replaced by stone via a mineralization process that often includes the replacement of the cell walls with minerals, mostly a silicate (hence the name silicfication.) Silicates include opal, chalcedony, or quartz.

So being compressed makes me agitated just like my bowls. 2 Cor 4:8-9 [NIV] tells us, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”

This comforts me and gives me hope. I’m agitated and hard pressed on every side, but not crushed. My bowls have lasted me 35 years so far, and they are still durable and solid. I can relax knowing I am living for eternity, and don’t need to be agitated or worried about what might come out of this political season. Life is too short here and now to stress over what is currently happening. I don’t need to be “petrified” or terrified. I don’t need to turn to stone or rock, because I’ve built my foundation of hope on the Rock.

“For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building. By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one must be careful how he builds. For no one can lay a foundation other that the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ… (1 Cor 3:9-11 [Berean Study Bible])

“For this is contained in Scripture: ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious cornerstone, and he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.’” (1 Pet. 2:6 [NIV]) (Based on Isa. 28:16)

Another translation says, “he who believes in Him will not be disturbed.” [KJV]

So I choose to remain hopeful, to not be crushed, to not live in despair, to not be destroyed and most of all not be agitated nor petrified buy what is going on in my country.

Will you join me in remaining calm, hopeful, and praying for America?

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