Rebirth

One of my favourite poems:


Break a pot,
No regrets,
Take it to the Potter,
                    and be reborn.


This poem is in a book by Charles de Lint, who is one of my favourite authors of all time. He is a wordsmith and a master in his craft!! However one thing you can not accuse him of from his writing is Christianity. Which is one of the reasons finding this jewel of a poem in his book is so amazing for me.


One of the things that has amazed me about God is how He can use anything to draw us closer to Him. Early on in my journey He used my love of Sci-Fi and Fantasy stories to make me consider ideas and how they related to my personal beliefs,and for that matter, 'What did I actually believe and why?' This thinking was an important step in my spiritual growth. 


However I digress. 


This afternoon I was thinking about clay pots and potters. There is a passage in Jeremiah where God tells Jeremiah, "Go to the Potter's house and I'll talk to you there." And then when Jeremiah gets to the Potters house the Potter is making a pot, but it becomes misshapen, so the potter breaks it and then remakes it. (Jeremiah 18:1-4)


Every single one of us is a clay pot. A Jar that God is waiting to fill with His Holy Spirit. And every single one of us is damaged in someway. We can only do one of two things, either we can struggle along on our own, denying that there is anything wrong or maybe acknowledging our imperfections but refusing to get help. Or, we can go to the Potter's house, we can ask for help, and that is where it gets interesting.


Sometimes the Potter takes those pots and repairs them and so that it is impossible to even see that there was a break. Sometime He mends that pot in such a way that the break becomes a feature of the pot, a thing of beauty to all who view it. And sometimes he takes the pot and smashes it, and then from the pieces makes something completely different. Mosaic's are amazing works of art made from the broken bits of pottery.


When we take our broken pots to the potter we never know what we will be reborn as but we can know that whatever it is, it will be a thing of beauty, a piece of art. We know this because God is faithful and always does as He has promised. And He has promised us a hope and a future.

Jeremiah 29:11For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.