Life on the Potter’s Wheel
And yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, and
you are the potter.
We are all formed by you hand.
Isaiah 64:8
December 15, 2012
One of my favorite authors is Lauren Winner. Her first book that I read was “Mudhouse
Sabbath”. It speaks about how many of Sabbath
rhythms of her Jewish upbringing inform her understanding of Sabbath as
Christian. Winner was one of those kids who were hard after God from a
remarkably young age. In my own journey, I was blessed to come from a sweet
heritage of faith but I wasn’t nearly as sophisticated in my spiritual thoughts
as she was. It wasn’t until just
recently I picked up her first book, “Girl Meets God” which tells of her young
life and her journey toward Jesus. Here’s
a passage from the chapter entitled “Advent”…
“The very first thing I liked about
Christianity, long before it ever occurred to me to go to church or say the
creed or call myself a Christian, was the Incarnation, the idea that God
lowered himself and became a man so that we could relate to Him better. In
Christianity, God got to be both a distant and transcendent Father god, and a
present and immanent Son god who walked among us. Christians, unlike Jews, spent their time
talking to a God who knew from experience what it was like to go hungry, to go
swimming, to miss a best friend.” (pg. 51)
Now, this wasn’t the end of her consideration of Jesus, this
was very early in it. She still has a
long way to go and to be honest I haven’t gotten that far in the book yet. I have
found myself today thinking about the Incarnation that we will be celebrating
in just a little over a week.
Especially today in light of the heartbreaking devastation that visited
a little elementary school in Connecticut yesterday. The Incarnation is truly the only source of
hope that I have found. The wonder of
the Triune God who came to earth as the full reflection of the Lord’s love and
the Spirit that was commended to us by Jesus….
“But when the Father sends the Advocate
as my representative – that is the Holy Spirit – he will teach you everything
and will remind you of everything I have told you. I am leaving you with a gift
– peace of mind and heart. And the peace
I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid. Remember what I told you: I am going away,
but I will come back to you again.
(John 14:26-28a NLT)
As hard as these days are right now and as little sense as
we can make of what happened yesterday at Sandy Hook Elementary we can focus on
the hope of the Incarnation. We still
live in Advent, a season of expectation and preparation of the coming of the
Messiah, the Christ, the Living Word, the Prince of Peace, Emmanuel – God with
us.
O’ Come O’ Come Emmanuel!!!
Potter’s Wheel gathers
again Sunday evening. Laura Stack has invited us to come to her home! Laura’s address is 7135 Cherokee. You take 71st off of Mission and
follow the fork in the road to Cherokee.
We’ll gather at 5:00. We’ll enjoy a potluck
meal and continue to share the journey together…on the Potter’s Wheel. COME
JOIN US! If you need more information, please feel free to contact me.
God’s
Peace!!!
Mary
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