More thoughts on pottery and faith


One of the first things I was taught in pottery is that you shouldn't get attached to your piece until it's done. By 'done' the people in my class mean, out of the kiln, fired and in your car on the way home. There are too many steps that can go wrong that could 'ruin' your piece. That advice was always a problem for me. Even though I have a hint of OCD in me somewhere and want every piece to be perfect, I fall a little in love with each piece I make. That love is in each part of the long process which begins with wedging the clay (photo on left).

In some ways I think this is because I think of pottery in the same way I do my faith. I don't think I ever have (or will) perfected my faith. It is all a journey. If you don't love the journey (at least some of the time) you have to ask yourself if it is worth taking. Pottery is the same to me. If I don't love making a piece, even an imperfect one, why be involved in the process. At that point, I'd pack it up and head to Mikasa for matching set of bone china and call it a day.

That isn't to say that I don't have favorite pieces, or in the end wind up disliking a particular piece. However, each step of the process there is a bit of me invested in the clay and glaze. Each step of one's faith journey we invest a little more of it in our relationship with God. Some paths on that journey we enjoy, others we don't. However, if we don't embrace the process of growing into our faith we lose an important part of our own development.

Making a piece of pottery isn't about the final piece. I don't look at the plate being used on our kitchen table and say, "There. It's done." I look at each step in the process and say, "I'm one step closer to understanding this piece, what it will look like and how it will be used." Our faith journeys are similar. Each step along the way should be viewed not only as part of a process, but also as an opportunity for understanding oneself, and one's relationship with God.