The Pottery

We lived in Africa. Our boys were young and attended a small private school. One day, our oldest went on a field trip:

A real pottery. What a great class trip for my son to make! I knew that an African pottery business would be just about as close to “Bible times” as one could get nowadays. The mud-brick buildings and dirt floors. The stacks of pots baking in the sun. The pottery wheel operated by some kind of pedal system. This was a fantastic way to finish off their study of the book A Single Shard.

The teacher invited parents to join the class. On the day of the field trip, I waited on a bench under a palm tree, watching for the class to file out into the school courtyard. Next to me sat the mother of one of the other students—a very sweet lady whom I was eager to get to know.

Add Some Salt, Please

I had been praying for opportunities to be “salt and light” to those around me. I wanted my conversations to grow more “salty,” so-to-speak.

Well here we sat, getting ready to go see an old-fashion pottery. So what story came to mind? The potter in Jeremiah, of course.

“I’m so excited to see this pottery,” I said to the mom.

“Yes, me too. I think it’s great for our kids to see a traditional place like this,” she replied.

“You know,” I started in. Pour on the salt! “The Bible tells a story about a potter. Did you know that the prophet Jeremiah went to a potter? God told him to because He wanted to give Jeremiah a message.” 

The mother looked at me…incredulous. I continued.

“So Jeremiah went and he saw a potter at the wheel. But the clay was messed up and the pot didn’t look right, so the potter reformed the clay into a new pot. God wanted Jeremiah to know that we are like clay in God’s hands. He can do with us as He pleases. Isn’t that an amazing story?”

“Yes,” the mother said, but nothing else. Things felt a little awkward. I think she was so taken aback that I had just pulled a Bible story into normal conversation. We didn’t talk any more about it that day. But we did watch the potter work and it truly looked just like I imagined. 

Open Door

Even though the conversation didn’t go any further that day, I felt that the door was open for spiritual topics. The mom invited me to her house a couple of times so our kids could play and I was thankful to have more opportunities to talk with her. 

Who knows? Maybe the clay of her life is being shaped so that one day she will believe in the Potter for herself. 

“Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said, ‘Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?’ declares the Lord. ‘Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel.’”

Jeremiah 18:5-6 (NIV)

What About You?

Do you have a story of adding a little “salt” to an everyday conversation?