|
|
Of Pots and Potters
Proper 18 | OT 23 | Pentecost 15
Click here for the full installment.
|
|
| Larry Winebrenner |
|
|
Contents
"Of Pots and Potters" by Larry Winebrenner
"A Letter from Simon" by Larry Winebrenner
"Wow! Flushies" by C. David McKirachan
"Remembering Me…" by C. David McKirachan
"That Difficult Side of Faith" by Lamar Massingill
* * * * * * * * *
Of Pots and Potters
Larry Winebrenner
Jeremiah 18.1-8
The passage in Jeremiah that compares the LORD to the potter and Israel to clay has struck a responsive chord in the hearts of contemporary folk. The rousing hymn, "Have Thine Own way Lord, declares," "Thou art the Potter, I am the clay."
In another hymn, "Take my Life and Let it Be Consecrated" includes the words, "take me, mold me," an obvious reference to Jeremiah's potter experience.
Most folk, however have little actual knowledge of pottery making. Even modern potters may be ignorant of what Jeremiah's potter faced. So often modern potters buy the clay and have wheels that are pedal driven, if not mechanically turned.
Jeremiah's potter had to go to a clay pit, often discovered and dug by himself. [That's not chauvinism. Potters today are both male and female. In Jeremiah's time, potters were traditionally male.] He dug only what he needed immediately, lest the clay dry out, become hard, brittle.
His wheel was heavy and well balanced. He turned it by hand to get it up to speed. Because it was heavy, once he got it moving at a high rate of speed, it tended to continue to turn with an occasional slap of the hand, or gentle push with his foot on the edge of the wheel.
No one knows how long ago or where the pottery wheel was made. Certainly not in the Americas. At least no wheel made pottery or remains, nor wheel parts have been discovered by archaeologists. Lots of vessels and shards of pottery made by the coiling method have been found. The only evidence of the wheel in any form in pre-Columbian Americas is a child's toy with wheels.
The use of pottery wheels predate Jeremiah by thousands of years. An intact wheel and wheel parts from between 7 and 8 BC have been found in Mesopotamia at Ur.
Another evidence of the antiquity of the wheel can be found in an ancient Egyptian myth. In the myth of the god Khnum the god used a pottery wheel to form humans.
There is also a fable from ancient China about pots. It really has nothing to do with the Potter's wheel, though the pots in the story may have been created on one. After all, the ancient Chinese did make pots four feet high on pottery wheels.
In the Chinese fable, two water pots were taken to the spring daily to fetch water for household use. This worked very well until one day one of the pots suffered a crack.
The crack did not make the pot useless, but not so useful as it was when whole. It was still used to fetch water. As the maid returned with the pots, however, half the water leaked from the damaged pot.
The undamaged pot would scold the leaky pot.
"See?" it would say. "You are no good. You leak away half your water. I don't know why the Master doesn't toss you on the trash heap."...
>>click here for the full installment.
>> Subscribe to StoryShare
|
What is StoryShare?
StoryShare is a treasure house with hundreds of good stories to share, stories which relate authentic, life-changing experiences that demonstrate the Lord's power and presence. Many are intensely personal accounts that concern visions, healing, or answers to prayers, but all bear witness to the indescribable joy, comfort and peace that come from a personal encounter with the divine. Our "Good Stories" section includes short fiction, parables much like those Jesus told.
Can I share stories that I have?
Yes, you can. You have good stories to share too, probably more than you know: personal stories, and stories from others that you have used over the years. StoryShare is always looking for "vision stories," stories involving personal experiences of the presence of God. Have you or someone you know heard the voice of God or been healed as a direct answer to prayer? If you have a story that you can share, especially about extraordinary spiritual experiences of ordinary people, send it to StoryShare for review. Simply click here (share-a-story@csspub.com) and email your story to us.
>> Subscribe to StoryShare
|
|
|
|
