“The Lord said, ‘Go down to the potter’s shop, and I will speak to you there.’ So I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel.  But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over.”  Jeremiah 18:1-4 

Have you ever seen a potter at work? 

It’s a fascinating process to watch, this interplay of hand and clay, water and wheel. The potter starts with a formless lump and gently coaxes the clay into an elegant vase, or a handy pitcher, or a unique bowl that has a form and a function all it’s own.

Of course, sometimes the project doesn’t turn out the way the potter envisions it. There’s a line wrong, or a lack of symmetry. It’s not the end of the world, though. The potter can pull the disappointing vessel off the wheel and begin again, reclaiming the clay to fashion it into something new.  

Some of Deb’s pottery projects.

I took a ceramics class my sophomore year of college and subsequently taught children pottery for three years, so I know that the first steps in successful pottery happen before you even begin. They involve purifying and centering the clay.

Even the finest clay has to be purified by working out the small air bubbles trapped within. They are in there, though you might not see them, and have to be patiently worked to the surface so that the block of clay is solid. If its not done well, these tiny air pockets can expand in the kiln and the pottery piece will be broken by the stress and ruined.

Once purified, the clay is mounted on the potter’s wheel. This is not as easy as it looks, because to form a beautiful pot your clay has to be perfectly centered.

Back in the day, I started on a fast electric wheel and could not master the art of balancing the clay for even simple pieces. Frustrated, I moved to a slower kick wheel, powered by swinging your foot against a large stone. I still couldn’t master it! Not until my professor sat with me (in Mr. Miyagi fashion) and patiently showed me how to feel the balance in the clay, could I manage to master finding the center.

No offense to people, but people are like are that, too! I’m like that. I want to perform elegantly in my days activities, I want to serve a useful function to those around me. And so I need to be purified and centered just as much as any bit of clay!

The work of a gifted potter is something to behold.

Here’s where, thank God, the potter comes in. If I place myself in God’s hands, through prayer and quiet meditation, the Holy Spirit is going to find my impure places (that might be a worry when I’m under stress) and work those problem areas out. I’m not in this all by myself!

The Holy Spirit also centers me. I don’t need to measure and remeasure, I just need to feel my way to God’s place for me. It might take time to master, but I can be patient. I am in good hands!

There’s one more trick that we can learn from pottery. The potter, when he’s forming a bowl or a vase, is always drawing the clay up. He’s got to be patient, for if you rush the clay, or if your piece becomes unbalanced, your pot will spin out of control. But a solid block of clay, well-centered, is magnificent to see as the potter slowly draws the sides up into a form that is beautiful and useful and precisely as the potter envisions.

Isaiah 64:8 says, “But now, O Lord, You are our Father, We are the clay, and You our potter; And all of us are the work of Your hand.”  

This is a perfect metaphor for our lives in the complicated, aggravating, frustrating, and frequently scary world today—we need to remember that patience and balance are required to keep us centered on Jesus, who will draw us up.