Aug 15th, 2021: Clay and Potter



I always admire people who can create artistically beautiful pottery kitchenware. The material is so simple, and yet a friend of mine can make these mugs. The colors are so vibrant and warm at the same time. The process to create them is very precise. One mistake, and she has to do it all over again.

"But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand." - (Isaiah 64:8).

Why is it that we can admire the work of a pottery artist like my friend and yet have a hard time appreciating others as a creation of God's hands? I would never discard any of these mugs that my friend created. Yet, I am sometimes guilty of being indifferent to some people that God has brought into my life. When we fail to see the goodness of God in one another, we will mistreat each other. Each of the mugs is unique, and my friend prefers to make them that way. Our differences are the manifestation of God's creativity.

Why do we have a hard time understanding that other people have different cultural heritages? Why are we so afraid of people because of the colors of their skin? Why do we use degrading terminologies to describe people with whom we don't have much in common? Why are we so easily offended when we don't think about things the same way? Politically Correct movement and any other attempt to control the diversity of our thoughts and reflections are the first steps to death. Death to the ability to love knowing that we are different, and the willingness to care for one another, knowing that we have different perspectives.

Out of dust, God created us. We are like these mugs. They all are from clay. Our intelligence, social-economic status, or understanding of the world do not make us better than anyone else. We are basically the same when it comes to our need for redemption and restoration. We cannot offer that to one another fully. Only God can. Let us walk with one another in humility because of that very knowledge. Let us be a small reflection of God's love for the world when we learn to embrace our differences.

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