“Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on a stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.” Matthew 5:15
When a potter sits down at his or her wheel, the finished product is often not what the potter had envisioned to begin with. The chunk of clay is cut from the slab and thrown on the wheel with a little water. The potter then begins to work the clay as it is pushed down into a pancake, up into a cup and then back down again. This is a process that can be repeated many times until the clay is worked enough to be soft and malleable enough to start to shape it. From there, the potter will start to form the clay, allowing it to grow and stretch before bringing it back down a little. The walls are felt for thickness, making sure they are not too thick or too thin anywhere and repairing places that are not right. Sometimes the potter will push the clay almost all the way back to the beginning to change the look of the final product. After the shape is formed to the potters pleasing, it is then put to the side for a few days. The potter has not forgotten it, nor is it not being worked on. The clay is drying out some so the potter can carve details into it and apply the glaze. But while it is drying the potter is creating the perfect design for the creation, something that will be unique only to that piece of clay. Once the design has been cut and the glaze applied, it again waits. This time it waits for the kiln, to be fired and hardened. Afterward, the work still is not complete. The potter then finely sands off any rough edges and places it on the shelf for someone to purchase. Each piece is special to the potter, even after it is purchased and in its final home.
At birth we are the slab of clay, thrown on the potter’s wheel. Through life we are shaped and formed, just as the potter works the materials to create a beautiful, functional piece of art. If you imagine that clay has become a vase, elegantly shaped, beautifully painted and ready to be put in the kiln for firing; that is the way we are as toddlers and young children. We are that beautiful vessel with no cracks or holes to leak from, no dents or bruises, and no rough edges. We are on the shelf, drying, waiting for our details. This is the way we want to be because society seems to tell us we should be unblemished. We desire to be perfect and flawless for our whole lives. However, this is not the way we are. We experience things which hurt us, leaving scars, dents and brakes. At times we are even taken back to the wheel, torn down and built back up. We go through difficult situations like divorce, illness, death of loved ones, financial burdens and many other things. Each time we seem to become less perfect as another crack is formed, another dent, a scar on our hearts and lives.
Now imagine that vase, remaining beautiful and flawless. Put a candle in in it. Where does the light go? It does not shine out for others to see. It does not call out like a beacon, to help others navigate through life by learning from your inspiration.
We all have a light inside of us. We have love, goodness and faith, whatever that might be, bottled up, waiting for the world to see. It is through these cracks and dents, holes and imperfections that our light is able to shine. We can help and guide others with this light, showing them how to live life and continue helping others, just as they have been helped. The next time you feel beaten down, broken or bruised; remember it is through these wounds your light can eventually shine for others who are also wounded.
Even after the vase has been fired in the kiln, places on the shelf, purchased and used, it will still get chipped and nicked. It will still break and be put back together. It will still have purpose, even if not the same purpose as it did in the beginning. Its owner will love it and receive joy even when it no longer holds water or is covered in dust. Dust will come off and cracks can be repaired. Often these add more meaning and character than the piece originally had.
We are the clay the potter is molding. When we are born is when we are cut from the slab and thrown on the wheel. We are not complete until the finished product is no longer a usable, functioning piece of art in our final home. This is to say we are constantly being shaped and reshaped; made into one form and then altered. We are put through trials. We are dented and cracked. Our glaze drips and patterns can run. Yet, we are each made beautiful and unique in our own way. We have been visualized by our Creator who is the artist with the knowledge of the end product. We are perfect in the end, just as the Master envisioned us to be. We come into the world through various circumstances. We are all, in the beginning, innocent and unblemished. Yet, along the way we have experiences, things we call life. We are beaten down with worry and stress. We feel pain and anger. We experience grief and loss.
We all have function and purpose. We are loved by our Creator who is constantly molding and shaping us, putting us through trials to make us each the most beautiful pieces of art.
“Have thine own way, Lord! Thou are the potter, I am the clay! Mold me and make me after Thy will, While I am waiting, yielded and still” –Adelaide Pollard