You\u2019ve moved across the country, and you\u2019re a long way from the town you know best. Time flies, and it\u2019s been a couple of years since you\u2019ve been back. But something has come up, and it turns out you\u2019re going to spend a day or two there. When you go back, you can\u2019t not go and see that one person, the one who knows you so well and loves you despite it all, and from whom you tend to shy away because he\u2019s like a refiner\u2019s fire that burns away the dross and leaves you with no way to hide the truth. But you\u2019ve been away a couple of years. You\u2019re a lot more worldly-wise now, and you\u2019re not going to be seen through as easily as in the old days.<\/p>\n
The conversation starts simply. \u201cWhat\u2019ve you been up to?\u201d There\u2019re lots of things to say to that. Then, \u201cWhat\u2019re you working on?\u201d That one\u2019s a bit harder, because you know it doesn\u2019t just mean, \u201cWhat\u2019s keeping you busy?\u201d but, \u201dWhat\u2019s the part of you that\u2019s being tested, what are you learning, what\u2019s not working, and where are you having to grow through your mistakes?\u201d You blunder on, offering up quite a few responses and hoping the number of different activities will prevent the conversation from settling on any single one of them. \u201cThat\u2019s a lot of things,\u201d says your refiner\u2019s fire. \u201cWhich is the one that really matters?\u201d<\/p>\n