Tuesday, September 17, 2013

What is Electrum, anyway?

A quickie today while I work on an article about Pope Francis and youth.

Today's reading from Ezeckiel got me wondering what "Electrum"--the bright stuff that the top half of the man in the vision resembled--was. Little things like this will distract me from the main point of a reading until I satisfy my curiosity. So, in case you were wondering, electrum is an alloy of gold and up to 20% silver, which makes it stronger and brighter. Modern metallurgists prefer to acheive this effect through concocting so-called white gold, which uses nickel rather than silver. Even  pricier alternatives for this appearance are palladium and platinum.

Now you may do the first reading without having to worry about the definition of electrum.

Welcome, new blog follower, Carrie. Carrie is actually a friend and neighbor, and manager of the St. Thomas More House of Prayer, a gorgeous place where the hours are prayed in community every day. You can go there for day visits or overnight for a personal retreat and learn to use a breviary from the helpful volunteers who gather there multiple times a day in its lovely rustic chapel.

There is nothing Carrie needs to learn from me about the Liturgy of the Hours! But I am glad she's here.