Nicolas Flamel (ca. 1310-1418, pictured above) looks like he could be St. Nicholas, with that full beard and impish face. In fact he lived long after and far away from the well-known saint. Flamel was a French scribe and manuscript seller. He also dabbled in alchemy.
Alchemists were those who, especially during the Middle Ages, experimented with various materials and procedures to turn ordinary metals like lead into gold.
Another dream of theirs was to discover an elixir of life—a potion that would provide eternal life.
“The Alchemist,” by Sir William Fettes Douglas, 1855
By the seventeenth century, legends had developed around Nicolas Flamel. Some claimed that he had discovered the Philosopher’s Stone, the alchemical substance that would turn lead into gold and produce the elixir of life.
But the only immortality he achieved is in print. Victor Hugo mentioned him in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and R. K. Rowling in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
Nicolas Flamel is buried in Paris at the Musée de Cluny.
By the 1600s, alchemy was, for the most part, abandoned.
Alchemy simply did not work in the physical realm.
However! In the spiritual realm, with God exercising his supernatural power, the alchemy of grace (1) performs great wonders:
The lost become found (Luke 19:10)
Darkness becomes light (John 8:12)
Death becomes life (Ephesians 2:4-5)
Mourning becomes joy (Jeremiah 31:13)
Ashes become beauty (Isaiah 61:3)
Hatred becomes love (Acts 9:1-2; Philippians 4:1)
Discouragement becomes hope (Romans 5:1-2)
Fear becomes peace (John 14:27)
Striving becomes resting (Exodus 33:14)
Weakness becomes strength (2 Corinthians 12:9)
No doubt we could mention many more magnificent facets of transformation that occur because of God’s alchemy of grace—a transformation even more miraculous than turning lead into gold.
To appreciate just how miraculous, consider what happens when we’re left to our own devices:
Darkness begets depression
Hatred begets ulcers
Fear begets paranoia
Striving begets stress
Discouragement begets self-pity
Would it be disrespectful to say that Jesus is our Philosopher’s Stone? He is the one and only Way to experience the alchemy (and grandeur and wonder!) of God’s grace (2).
Do you find your heart swelling with gratitude and praise?
“Trace the roots of grace, or charis in the Greek, and you will find a verb that means ‘I rejoice, I am glad” – Phillip Yancey (3).
* * * * * * * * * *
Holy Father, how astounding to consider that we are being transformed into the likeness of your Son with ever-increasing glory. Thank you for the alchemy of your grace that transforms our leaden lives into lustrous, 24-carat gold!
(2 Corinthians 3:18; Job 23:10)
* The “alchemy of grace” is a phrase borrowed from Charles Spurgeon.
(1) Grace is undeserved love, manifested in unmerited favor.
(2) John 14:6, Acts 4:12, 1 Timothy 2:5-6
(3) Phillip Yancey, What’s So Amazing about Grace?, Zondervan, 1997, p. 13.
(Art & photo credits: www.wikipedia.org (2), http://www.theodysseyonline.com; http://www.pinterest.com; http://www.biblehub.net; http://www.pinterest.com.)
From the Inside Out 