November 2004

Clay in my Hair

One of my favorite memories from college is having clay in my hair, on my shoes, all over my pants, and up and down my arms. Sometimes the clay would find its way to my face as well and I would be picking it off all day long. But it was worth it. You see, as a junior, I had a roommate who loved to throw pottery. One Saturday just as the leaves were beginning to fall from the trees, she took her boyfriend and I down to the school's craft center, plopped some clay on a wheel in front of us and let us go at it. I had a ball! Literally! She taught us how the clay needed to be centered first, then how to dig into the middle to shape the clay's sides. It is a lot harder than it looks, let me tell you. You also have to make sure you keep the right amount of water on the clay so it stays malleable. I came away from that first day with two bowls in progress. Throwing the pottery is only the first step. You have to come back when the piece is partly dry to trim the sides and bottom. Then the piece is fired in a kiln, then dipped in glaze, then fired again. By the time the process is done, you have a beautiful piece, in my case a bowl, with a clay core covered in colored glass.

I am a person who loves to create things with her hands so it was easy for me to become hooked into throwing pottery. Many a day I would hurry over to the craft center after class, hang my backpack and coat on a peg by the door, dig into my locker for my tools, clay, and plastic apron (for all the good THAT did me), and settle down into the circle of wheels while I threw pottery and chatted with my fellow pottery friends.

As a beginning potter, I loved watching the other people throw. It is so beautiful to watch a form come to life. Learning from them I realized you have to envision what you want the piece to look like, you cannot simply go along with where the clay would like to go. You need to guide it, pull it up, stretch it out, and dig into its depths. Just like the potter, God has a vision of what we are going to look like. He takes our lumps of human clay, centers us in him, soothes us with the water of His love, then proceeds to stretch, guide and dig, and pull us into an image reminiscent of Him. After that we are placed into the fire of troubles called life to refine our character and make us pure. When He is done, we each stand as beautiful tributes to His love, grace, and mercy. We are His masterpieces.

Even when we don't feel like beautiful masterpieces, God sees us sees us through different eyes. One bowl I have looks as if I should have thrown it away a long time ago. When I fired it the second time, the glaze bubbled and the bowl looks a fright to anyone who would want to eat out of it. However, I made it, and I think it still has a use. It would make a beautiful planter or candy bowl. I have even kept the pottery that is broken as the pieces make beautiful mosaics when pieced together. So sometimes even when we think we may be far from where God wants us to be, He still uses us in ways that take our breath away. Put yourselves in the master potter's hands and He will form you in astounding ways.

"You turn things upside down,

as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!

Shall what is formed say to him who formed it,

"He did not make me"?

Can the pot say of the potter,

"He knows nothing"?" Isaiah 29:16

"Yet, O Lord, you are our Father.

We are the clay, you are the potter;

we are all the work of your hand." Isaiah 64:8

From one lump of clay to another,

Sarah Katreen Hoggatt

News

The poetry that was on display at Jefferson Baptist Church is now for sale for $10.00. E-mail me for poem titles and matt colors. I can also do custom matting if you like. More Information will be posted on the website in coming months.

Last Updated: 12/30/2011