Clay Jar Thoughts

Greenware - clay pieces that are not fired. (See to left.)

Bisqueware - clay pieces that have been fired once.

Glazeware - clay pieces that have been glazed and fired  a second time.

Big Idea: God loves us. He wants to be in relationship with us, His pottery.

I think of the greenware as being like us before we believe and receive God's love and rescue plan for our "greenware" state. Greenware is the kind of clay jar that is in a very brittle, easily destroyed state. It reminds me of the time in our life when we have our sin and pain and have nowhere to go with it. Maybe we work harder or longer, maybe we numb up or drug up. But, it is never enough to make us feel at peace with our internal fallenness, with ourselves and God.

We are fragile, although some of us think we are invincible in this greenware stage. We give away pieces of ourselves or have pieces broken off of us by bullies or thoughtless ones. Think of a movie you have watched, and a scene happens which brings tears to your eyes. It evokes something in your own life that is still painful, unresolved. Or, it touches that part of our fallenness, or someone else's wrongdoing who we are in relationship with, and it is exposed in the movie. Laid bare. The moment of intimacy at that moment exposes the real you. And you weep.

Do you turn up the music, watch more TV or work longer or run to an addiction to keep from dealing with your brokenness, internal alienation from our loving God? Are you running from yourself? Your tears? I was.

Bisqueware has been fired in an oven cranked up to about 1000 degrees or more. That reminds me of our giving up, asking Jesus to forgive me of my sins and accepting His substitutionary death for me. And receiving His righteousness. Bisqueware "clay jars" run to a love relationship with God. Jesus' "cure" for my sin allows me to be intimate with God, myself and others without hiding or numbing.

It is like handing over the reigns of my intimate life to Him. It is my rebirth, but it is also my death to self, death to thinking my good works making me OK with a holy, perfect God. I give up coping with, covering up my shame and hiddenness from God. I expose my shame and acknowledge my sin to His love and embrace His mercy and grace.

Being sealed and filled with the Holy Spirit reminds me of the glazeware stage of pottery.  Turn up the kiln even hotter for this stage. Fired, glazed pots are usable for all sorts of service, decoration, beauty and enjoyment. For the follower of Jesus, this is when we walk in righteousness, filled with righteousness, and then we begin to manifest God's character in this life on planet earth.

However, we are always clay jars. We aren't God at all just because we have a love relationship with Him. Some leagalists might think they are God all of a sudden because they are in relationship with Him. Judging others, standing in a powering over position. Boasting comes in again. This is a new alienation, due to pride, distancing from God and others. Legalists' worlds get smaller and smaller.

So, today, Lord, help me. Help me to be transparent, humble and intimate with you and others and usuable for your service. Your glazeware.

Picture of art....clay leaf.

Treasure in Jars of Clay

I taught pottery today. Kylie is a really careful learner. She tries everything I throw at her. Well, not literally throw at her, but you know what I mean. We did pottery most of the lesson. She tried coil, slab and the pinch methods for making objects. It was so much fun to see someone else try art forms new to them. I love facilitating that!

So, tonight I have pictures of my demo pots for pinch pot, slab and for coil pot. We are also trying this in art docent this week in first grade, so it was fun to prepare, in a way, for that class as well. I think I like the pinch method the best. It is so much fun to get one's hands into some fresh clay and squeeze!

As I was forming my shapes, I was thinking about how God forms each one of us. We are His "jars of clay". He is the Master potter. He is the one who built our DNA, our gifts and talents, our desires and deepest longings. The color of our eyes. Our longing for relationship with Him. We are in His Potter's hands.

He is the one who puts us through or allows us to go through firey trials. He uses the trials to ultimately strengthen us, deepen our characters. Just like the light bouncing off the fired glaze; we can reflect God and His love, grace and faithfulness in our own lives after being "fired".

It's not all rosey, however. Sometimes, in this life of being a "clay jar", I have been broken or wounded or "beat up" or messed up big time, and yet, God picks up the pieces of me, the coils and slabs, and by using grace-filled people or His word, to love me, encourage me and help me to heal, I am restored and made better than before.

Your losses, my losses, expected or unexpected,  are huge times of brokenness. But God is there. Using real live fellow jars of clay. Just as marred and repaired as you and me. You can map out these people He has placed in your life to love you, me, and grace you and me. His word is also like the moist sponge on the cracked clay, and restores us.

And when we come to Him, in humility and love and brokenness, with our worship, He fills us with His presence. Now, His presence is our greatest treasure. In 2 Corinthians 4:7 we read about this treasure, but the treasure is kept in a jar of clay - us. That seems like an odd place for a treasure. But, there you have it. Or, have Him.

Another Soul

You don't have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body.
CS Lewis


Each person we meet is an eternal soul. They just have different bodies. Their differences show the majesty and creativity of God.
Please help me to remember, keep my wonder and pray.

Bhutan Refugee

Tonight I drew a young woman from Bhutan during my Perspectives class at church. We heard about refugees right in our Seattle area who come from all over the world, including Bhutan. It was fun to look up on a map to see where Bhutan is located. Perspectives has been transforming my outlook in so many ways!    My thought for tonight: God's children are really beautiful all over the world. I especially love people's eyes...windows to their souls.                                                                          

Pinoccio and Italian Ends

Well, my Italian 2 class has been completed. We read quite a bit of the real Pinoccio, not the Disney version. Lots of laughs. The Italian version is a little more violent and silly with lots of back talk and fighting. Pinoccio was so foolish, driven by his passions for fun, food and ridiculously vapid thoughts.

My favorite part was when he sat by the fire to warm himself, and his feet burned off during the night. His Babo (Papa) comes in the morning and asks Pinoccio to open the door. He says he can't because someone "ate his feet" during the night. Papa thinks he is just being disobedient.

He did find deliverance and redemption in the end  He came to his senses like the prodical son. So, to bestow a tiny bit of honor to this silly puppet, I sketch/paint him tonight - with his feet.

I will miss hearing all the Italian and the talk about Italian food. We exchanged lots of authentic recipes and had a farewell buffet of fresh basil, mozzerella, tomato and olive oil...caprise!  A little cena. (dinner) Yum! I would love to take Italian 3 in the summer, but that probably won't happen. Just thinking how much fun and beautiful the Italian language happens to be.

Boat Continued

I have added more pastel...still relearning how it layers. The dynamic created by contrasting light with dark is a small miracle. Echos of "Let there be light!" I really enjoy putting.......

lighting intensity/contrast in work.

It is amazing, fun for me, to experience so many different medium as an artist. People keep looking for a style from me. Maybe 20 boat drawings would make a good series and give them a style. I could do a boat in quite a few different medium. Oh well. Just musing here. No one reads this anyway. OK, so for the next 10 days I will do boats. "Aw, come on." as a former first grader would say. Well, maybe 5 days.

Thought for today: The experience of being understood, versus interpreted, is so compelling you can charge admission--Joseph Pine

Soft Pastel Boat

Tonight I was thinking of Alison and Alice and Jeanne who bought my art so I could pay for my Master's degree. I was making a great deal of soft pastel artwork back then, very realistic. I must admit, I feel like a novice again, but I hope to hit my stride as I put on more layers.

I found some soft pastels at a local art store, and they were awful quality.  I dug around in the garage and found my old pastels from many years ago. They are Rembrandts and very good. I am working on black paper to prepare for a painting. Just seeing how it will look if I make the canvas dark first..

I have drawn the boat countless times on scraps of paper to try to get the proportions correct. I am also suggesting 3 poles. (Easter hint) My idea is that I now have complete rest in Jesus, thus the peaceful boat. We'll see what the layers bring tomorrow! Grace and Peace to all.