I was recently reading a story about a potter who was forming a piece. The story says that something happened and the piece was spoiled. However, even though he set out with one thing in mind, he didn’t give up on the piece. Instead, he kept the wheel spinning and managed to work the project into something new.
I spend a lot of time with a lot of different people. People in general go through a lot in life. Trauma. Pain. Loss. Confusion. Doubt. The sources of these kinds of emotions are different for everyone, but the affect they have on our lives is similar. During seasons of hardship it is natural to feel spoiled...maybe even like you're broken and just not working like you're supposed to work.
I’ve been in those days when you’re nearly crippled from uncertainty. Some days it feels like you’re working hard and going nowhere. Some days the pain you feel clouds every other feeling. To make it worse, in times of difficulty, it seems like everyone else is thriving. The difficulty of the hardship seems to only get worse and never better.
I wish there was a quick fix, but there’s not. The truth is that sometimes not even time heals wounds. In fact, time can make it worse. The longer you struggle without answers, without clarity, without traction...the harder it can be to feel like you’re moving toward anything. Believe me, I get it.
The clay in this story is being formed, but something goes wrong. It would have made sense to throw it out and start over. It would have been reasonable to consider it a failure.
But that's not what happened.
Instead the potter keeps the wheel spinning. The clay is still being formed. We don’t know what it was originally supposed to be, and we don’t know what it ultimately became. What we do know is that something that was spoiled was fashioned into something new described as a vessel.
Vessels have purpose. Vessels are a way for one thing to get to another thing. They carry things that are important. Sometimes they carry things of great value. While the clay made it’s way into something other than what it started out to be, it was still something good.
Maybe you feel that way. Maybe you feel like you’re nowhere near where you set out to be. Maybe you feel like you’re spoiled or broken. But, what if your still spinning on the wheel? What if there’s a possibility that despite the hopelessness, you’re being made into a new vessel?
Being spun through something painful didn’t mean the piece was broken. It just wasn’t finished yet.
Another thing we know about pottery...before that piece can be used, it has to go through the fire. Going through the fire is essential for the purpose of the vessel to be realized. After the forming comes the fire. The forming can be long and difficult, and the fire can be worse.
If you’re feeling that you're in the spoiled phase, remember you’re still on the wheel and you’re being re-made with the potential for something. Maybe you’re actually in the fire. You’ve been through a spoil. You’re out of that spoiled situation, but you still don’t feel like you know what kind of vessel you are. The fire is the final bit of preparation, and you’re closer to the season being over than you think.
Wherever you are, you can trust that you’re not broken yet. You’re not spoiled forever. You are a vessel worthy of being formed and even reformed. Vessels bring value and meaning. Give the potter some room to re-form whatever needs to be re-formed. At the right time, you’ll see that something bigger was happening in the fire all along.
During one of my most difficult times...when I was feeling spoiled and hopeless...I ran across this song. It had and still has a profound impact on me. Maybe it will encourage you as well…
“Not Broken Anymore” by Blue October (shout out to my old friend Ryan Delahoussaye on the keys...beautiful)
Blue October - Not Broken Anymore (acoustic)by Roxwel
Thanks for taking the time to read my blog. If there's someone you know who needs this encouragement, please pass it on, share it or repost it. Finally, let me know if there's ever anything I can do for you.