The Potter and the Clay - Art Fair Treasures!

     Our small town on the edge of the desert hosts a great art fair twice each year. Thousands flood past the tents lining the center of town, shopping for that one-of-a-kind creation being offered by some of the best artists and crafts people in the Southwest! The fair is a feast of color, kettle corn and alternative music - it draws a crowd as diverse as the art work it offers.

     I admit that I don't always attend. The crowds can be a little overwhelming, and like most of the residents of this town, I am drawn here by the quiet life our town offers. However, it's hard to stay away for too many fairs in a row; after missing a few I'll find myself caught up again in the flow, ducking in those white tents hunting for a treasure to take home.

     Without fail, I end up in the same spot...

   

                                                                                      ...circling the shelves of pottery!

     Each piece is unique, fashioned by hand, never completely perfect - but all beautiful!  I'm afraid it may be an addiction as I look around our home, one I've had for years. The wavy finished lidded pot is a piece from 25 years ago, made by a Virginia artist, purchased at an Ohio art show!


     God, our Father, tells us that we are clay - and He is the potter. Each of us is the "work of His hand".

     Tall, short, bumpy, round...each unique, each one of a kind, each the work of a Master.

     Can you imagine a piece of clay, while being formed into a beautiful vessel, looking up at the potter and asking, "Why did you make me this way?" Or when it's finished, " You didn't make me - you know nothing! I evolved into this work of art from a lump of clay!"

    Of course not! What an absurd idea!

     But that's exactly what we do.

     When we question why we look the way we do...

     When we deny God as Creator, the One responsible for forming man out of the dust of the ground and breathing life into him...

     At the art fair I'm looking for unique pottery, things I don't have, to add to my collection. After watching artists create some of these pots and vases, it is obvious that a lump of clay will never be anything but a lump of clay until that artist molds and shapes it.

     Our Father has created us....made each of us unique...with a purpose in mind. It is up to us to acknowledge Him as the Potter, accept our role as clay in His hands, and trust Him to make our lives a work of art that brings praise to Him!

"Have thine own way Lord! Have thine own way!
Thou art the potter, I am the clay.
Mold me and make me after thy will,
While I am waiting, yielded and still."

Hymn lyrics by Adelaide A. Pollard  1862-1934