“Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand.” (Jeremiah 18:6)I’m sorry I haven’t written lately. I have no great excuse, other than I haven’t seemed to have anything terribly interesting to say. That being said, writer’s block be darned, I am putting something out into the great blue yonder. There are a few little girls over at our house this afternoon, “working” on a social studies project. I hear lots of giggles, tunes on the piano, Wii Just Dance music, -- and I would have sworn ice cream scoops scooping out delectable treats.
I check in on them every so often and redirect them toward the task at hand. They are supposed to be constructing a horse model out of air-dry clay. The model represents the horse racing industry, past and present. You can only imagine the banging on my kitchen table as they knead the clay, flatten (read into this: pound) the clay, roll out the clay, and shape it.
The clay must remain moist, or it will dry solid. The girls shape the clay into four legs, a body, and a head. The legs are skinny and the body is heavy. The six dissembled pieces lay on the table. The girls pause in reverence. We’ve had several “work” days at our house over the past few months. The horse has been sculpted two or three times, only to be torn apart when the girls decided it didn’t look realistic. So finally, the project nears completion.
They wonder how to piece together the parts of the whole. My clever daughter decides to use toothpicks to stick the legs to the body, and then the head to the body and then she smooths the clay to mold the six parts together into one whole.
I am reminded of the verse in Jeremiah, where the prophet relayed the LORD’s message to the Israelites after a visit to the potter’s house. Jeremiah watches as the potter shapes a pot from clay, decides the pot in marred in his hands, and then forms the clay into a new pot, shaping it as best as he could. The LORD’s message to the people: “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand.” (Jeremiah 18:6) It’s easy to draw parallels with this simile to my life. God, as the potter, takes me as I am: a lump of clay. If I surrender to Him, he molds me into a vessel through which I may carry His Word and glory to others. Often this takes a lot of banging (as if a ton of bricks just hit me), kneading (pushing out all of the ME that is there) flattening (bringing me to my knees) , rolling me out (preparing me for the task), and finally shaping me into the pot (vessel). I must remain pliable, and connected to the source of Living Water during the entire process. And once I am used as a vessel, I must carry this Living Water to my neighbors. (“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” John 7:37-38)
I am being called to the kitchen. Apparently the horse’s head has fallen off, and crisis ensues. Mom to the rescue.
