The Potter's Wheel

As a child I was fortunate to have the experience of using a potter's wheel as my father taught ceramics at our local high school.  I looked forward to the time spent trying to form a cup or vase. There were a few simple rules about molding something from clay; keep the clay moist which meant occasionally splashing small bits of water on the mound spinning on electric wheel or dipping your hands in the water and then resuming the work on clay, don't increase the speed of the wheel too fast or the clay will fly off,  and clean up.  Other than that my father allowed my brother and myself with a watchful eye to experiment.

In today's reading we read about Jeremiah and the potters house.  From my limited experience on the potter's wheel I find some connections to the passage. Keeping the clay moist as an object is formed reminds me of the spiritual cleansing or Sacrament of Reconciliation that needs to take place as we journey to the Kingdom of heaven. Every now and then water needs to be splashed upon us in the form of God's infinite mercy for us to become the image God intended us to to be.  Increasing the speed of the wheel which forms a imperfect object or causes the clay to fly off correlates to the futile attempt to live life in today's world full of immediate gratification, materialism, rage,  and cultural relativism. We become disengaged with our truer sense of what is right and slide off the wheel into the depths of sin.  Fortunately God in his infinite mercy is there to pick us up and place us in the center of the wheel to begin the process of forming a object of beauty only if we allow Him to do so and place our life in his hands.

As the clay spins the potter takes the various tools to add grooves to the object and using his hands sometimes squeezing the clay an image begins to appear from the blob. The excess clay from the use of the tools is thus removed much like the bad fish in today's Gospel. Little by little the once blob of clay takes form.  Once finished it is fired and glazed.  As one can see God's work is never done with us as we are the proverbial piece of clay.

Even after we have made the conscious decision to give up our life to God, we need to be dusted off, cleaned, and shined as to become the true image of God's work in us.  Taking this in mind let us reflect not only us as the object that is being formed, but how we can through God's grace also assist in formation of others around us.