When you arrived at Grandma and Grandpa’s house, you always came in through the back door. Only visitors used the front door, but family came around back. And when you stepped foot through the back door, you were in Grandma’s pottery room.
Big blocks of clay lay wrapped in plastic on the counter. Her wheel and stool were tucked into the corner. Shelves lined the walls. On the shelves were her creations in their various stages of development. Intricate sculptures, nesting bowls, child-sized tea sets, mugs—so many mugs—and always some indescribable object, some burst of Grandma’s imagination that made its way into the world through her hands and into clay.
I loved going to Grandma’s house. I loved stepping into her pottery room, my eyes roaming the shelves, discovering her latest creations. On a lucky day, she would be in the middle of a project, and I could sit and watch her mesmerizing hands shape the spinning clay.
As a young child, I’d get to make pinch pots with her. It was like play dough, but so much better. Then one glorious day I was old enough to try the wheel. She gave me my very first pottery lesson on the wheel. My excitement quickly gave way to astonishment and frustration. “This is so much harder than it looks!”
Grandma knew the clay in a way that I did not. She knew when it was centered on the wheel. She knew when it would wobble. She knew when it needed a squeeze of water from the sponge and when to sop it up. She knew when the clay would resist and when it would yield. Grandma knew the clay.
With her gentle and patient guidance, I made a few slightly odd-shaped pieces that sit on my shelf to this day. There are only a few pieces because, not long after the pottery lessons began, we moved far away from Grandma and Grandpa. I never lived near them again. Short visits weren’t conducive to the long process of pottery. That move ended my knowledge of the clay.
But the fascination stayed. I’m forever drawn to pottery. My hands crave the feel of a handmade mug in the morning. I follow potters on Instagram. I always say that if I could magically become a master at any art form, I’d be a potter.
So when Scripture calls God a potter, I’m captivated. The deeper I journey in my relationship with God, the more this resonates.
We are the clay, you are the potter. We are all the work of your hand (Isaiah 64:8 NLT).
God knows me like Grandma knew her clay.
I most experience this sense of being known by God when I’m on retreat. You see where this is going, don’t you? I couldn’t not create a retreat with a “Potter and Clay” theme. The imagery, the scripture—it’s all there. It is an invitation to come away and be tended to by the Potter. The One who knows you.
If you’re new to Velvet Ashes, there’s this thing we do twice a year. We take a spiritual retreat all together, except we’re not all together. We’re together in heart but spread out in locations across the globe. Time zones and schedules are hard, so we all go at our own pace on our own schedules. We each go on our own retreat experience with God, some of us in solitude and some in a small group, but all with the joy of a global spiritual community.
The absolutely astounding thing is that God knows exactly what each of us needs. We use the same retreat guide, but we each have a completely unique and personal experience. Because God the Potter has his hands on and in each one of us. He’s holding you and he’s holding me. Going on retreat gives us the opportunity to reawaken to that reality. Oh right, I’m held.
If you’re not already registered for our Unplugged Retreat happening this month, you still have time. If you’ve been on the edge thinking about it, here’s the nudge to just do it. Give it a try. The price goes up on November 1, so now is the time to get the best price. Velvet Ashes members, this retreat is included in your membership, plus you get the private space to share your experience in our community. Membership and retreat access are open now!
We would love for you to join us!
And I love asking this question, so tell me, if you could magically be a master of any art form, what would it be?
