Simple needs gave strength
And tangled days showed purpose;
A reason to press on
To find refreshment
And sip the bitter coffee.
The suffering was painful
Yet goodness grew out of it
The gravel we stumbled on
Kicked up dust and gold,
Only later did we discover
The wealth it left within us.
2.
The cool refreshment
warmed my heart
Drifting back to reality
I remembered
That the hard times
Were the good times
Now the memories ignite
And urge me
To embrace the future
With purpose,
To fulfill the calling
To dig down deep
And extract the gold
From the ore.
Mark B. Jabusch, “Dust and Gold,” written on October 15, 2026
Also posted on Allpoetry.com.
The two parts of Dust and Gold move from hardship toward renewal.
Part 1: Discovering hidden wealth, value within suffering, hard times delivered hidden wealth
Part 2: Putting the discovery to work, turns that discovery into a reason to live purposefully.
Dust and Gold carries the message of Psalm 23. Sometimes we appreciate life’s richest gifts only by looking at them through the eyes of faith. We struggle “through the valley of the shadow of death,” but we do not need to fear evil because God is with us. His Holy Spirit anoints us, enabling us to endure difficulties knowing that “goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
The apostle Paul assures us,
“we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:3-5 ESV).
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10 ESV).