Cracked Pot

I posted this story to my travel blog a couple of years ago but I think it bears repeating here.  I almost feel foolish posting this as I am sure most everybody is familiar with the story.  However, I first heard it only 5 years ago, and it touched me deeply.  There may be someone out there in cyberspace who needs to read this story.
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I have tried to find the origin of this story but, in doing the research, found there are many permutations and differing theories of the origins of this tale. So just let it be said, the story is not original with me and you may have heard it a slightly different way at some time.

The Story of the Cracked Pot:

Long long ago, a very rich man owned a beautiful mansion. He was a kind master and gentle with his servants. His water bearer would go every day to bring water from the spring to the mansion. The servant would hook two large pots to the ends of a pole, place the pole on his shoulders and make the trek to the spring.

The servant would fill the pots up to the brim with water but every day he only had one and one half pots of water by the time he got back to the master’s mansion. It seems one of the pots was cracked, and along the way home, would loose a portion of its water.

One day, as the servant prepared for his trek to the spring, the pot asked the servant,
“Why do you keep filling me with water when you know I will leak? The master has many vessels and you could easily get a new pot.”

The servant did not answer the pot. He just put the vessels on his pole and began his trip to get the water. On the way back to the mansion, he said to the pot,

“Have you ever noticed all the beautiful wild flowers along this path?”

“Why yes,” said the pot, “But what has that to do with me?”

“Have you noticed that the flowers grow on only one side of the path?” asked the servant.

“No, I never paid much attention to that,” replied the pot.

“These beautiful flowers are picked to adorn the master’s table,” explained the servant. “Without them the mansion would be dreary. The flowers bring beauty and joy to all who enter the mansion.”

“That’s wonderful, I never knew that.”

The servant began to explain to the cracked pot.

“These flowers grow only on one side of the path because, as we walk along this path, the water that leaks from your imperfection waters the ground. The seeds sprout up and become beautiful flowers. It is from your imperfection that beauty grows.”

The pot was silent as he thought about what the servant had told him. He began to see himself in a whole new light as he realized that what he saw as imperfection was actually a benefit to the master. From that day on the pot saw himself in a whole new light and no longer worried over his imperfections. In fact, he was quite comfortable with them and began to focus on the beauty that lined his path rather than the imperfections in his vessel.

Are you a Cracked Pot? Perhaps the imperfections that you perceive in yourself are there for a purpose and are actually bringing beauty to those around you.

A couple of years ago, I was searching for a cracked pot with

which to illustrate this story. We stopped at a wonderful little pottery shop near Walker, CA on Hwy 395. This shop had many examples of native American pottery, most made by the Navajo people. While I did not find a pot with a crack in it, I did find one that had a bad chip. He sold it to me for half price and I keep it on display in my hutch to remind myself to not take my imperfections too seriously.

Always remember that God uses imperfect people.  You don't have to look very far in the Bible to find examples of this.  Remember too that if we are focusing on OUR imperfections then we are looking inward when we should be looking upward to the perfection of our Master.  We are all imperfect and regardless of one's flaw, God can and will use each one of us if we focus on Him and not on our imperfections.

2 Corinthians 12:9

New International Version (NIV)

⁹ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  (courtesy http://www.biblegateway.com)

Prayer Changes Things?

I grew up in the church, many of those growing up years spent as a Pastor's daughter.  This was back in the "olden days" when things were much simpler.  Ours was  a little country type church, with down home folks and simple ways.

We would often have contests in Sunday School and Vacation Bible School.  The prize was always the same; a plaster plaque handmade and hand painted by my mother (or the kids!).  I can remember many happy hours spent pouring plaster of Paris into molds and waiting for them to dry.  Then we would seal them and paint them and they became symbols of our thanks to the people of our congregation.  Today, they would probably be laughed at but back then, they were prized.

I visited a Mennonite bakery a couple of weeks ago and in the restroom was one of these same plaques.  I looked and looked on the Internet to find some of these old gems and could only find two.  

This one I remember so well from having seen it hanging in our living room for years.  Ours was painted a whole lot differently but it was the same plaque.  As a youngster, I often wondered why it said "Find we know...."  I thought the fancy "A" looked like "Fi".  It took me a while to figure that one out!!

The other find on the Internet was from a supply company (complete with mold!) and I also remember a plague just like this hanging in our house.

That was a popular saying back in the day...along with "prayer changes things."

I didn't think about those sayings until much later in life.  While I have no doubt regarding the veracity of both mottos, I also think we need to remember that God is not a magic Genie that comes out of the bottle to grant three wishes just because we pray.  So often we wait until we are in deep trouble, then we drop to our knees and wonder why a miracle is not forthcoming.

While my God IS a God of miracles, sometimes it is not a miracle we seek, but simply the magic genie.  Prayer can and does change things but there is something else we need to learn.

When we spend time in prayer, we must not only ask, we must also listen.  Sometimes God says "NO" and sometimes He changes our circumstances.  But the most important thing that changes with prayer is what happen to the one doing the praying.  Oftentimes I have prayed for God to change this or that, or this person or that person, never realizing that it was ME who needed the changing.  When we spend quality time with our Lord in prayer, the most important thing that changes is US.  

Next time a miracle is needed and you go to prayer, you might want to take a look in the mirror.  The beginning of that miracle may just be the one staring back at you.

The Mayonnaise Cake

My Dad liked to cook.  He liked to eat too but that's an altogether different story.  His culinary efforts mainly ran to good old down home cooking like hamburger stew or some kind of macaroni dish.  He wasn't, however, much of a baker.

I'll never forget when I was a very young girl, perhaps 5 or 6, and Daddy and I decided to bake a cake.  He told me he had read about how to make a cake using mayonnaise and it would come out really moist.  

I hopped up on a chair to help and we mixed flour and sugar and cocoa and all the other good things needed to make a chocolate cake.  A hefty dose of mayonnaise rounded out the mixture - all made without benefit of a recipe.

We waited for the cake to bake, and it did smell good and chocolaty.  But when Daddy took that cake out of the pan it was evident there was a problem.  The cake was not just moist - it was so full of oily mayonnaise that you could practically wring it out like a sponge.  Good thing my Dad also had a great sense of humor because that cake (as the kids nowadays would say) was an epic FAIL!!

I've thought about that incident many times in my life and I learned something from it - never make a mayonnaise cake, especially without a recipe!!  I've also learned over the years, that I can learn both from the mistakes of others and from the wise counsel of those I trust.

So often I hear people young and old proclaiming that each of us must make our own mistakes.  Think about that for a minute.  Do we put someone behind the wheel of a car with no instructions and tell them to drive?  They'll learn how to steer when they run into a few cars or block walls!  Do we  give 10 year olds the family check book and expect them to keep track of expenses and pay all the bills on time?

These things, and so much more, must be taught from those who have experience.  Sure, no one can completely teach another all there is to know and prevent that person from making mistakes.  But we do NOT all have to make the same mistakes.  We can learn from others.  You do not have to stick your hand into the flame to learn that fire is hot.

We all must make our own decisions but that is not the same as making our own mistakes.  The first chapter of Proverbs begs for young people to learn to be wise and to accept correction.  The writer admonishes young people to listen to their parents and become wise.  Even those who are already wise can benefit from the Proverbs of the Bible.

Proverbs, Chapter 1 warns us that there are evil people in the world who will try and entice young people into doing things they shouldn't do.  On the other hand, wisdom is all around us.  It is crying out to be heard and become a part of our lives.  Do we remain as fools or do we listen and learn and become wise?

Young people especially want to make their own mistakes but so often they don't realize the sometimes tragic consequences of those mistakes.  My heart aches for my grand children who are coming into young adult hood.  Would that they could see the benefit of finding wisdom and learning from others.  There are no do-overs in life and some mistakes have life changing consequences which cannot be undone.

Young people, you do NOT need to make all your own mistakes.  You can avoid so much if you will only listen and learn and seek wise counsel.  The last two verses of Proverbs 1 state this so clearly: (NIV) ³² For the waywardness of the simple will kill them,
    and the complacency of fools will destroy them;
³³ but whoever listens to me will live in safety
    and be at ease, without fear of harm.”

(The "me" in the above reference is referring to Wisdom)

Don't choose to live the life of a fool - choose wisdom and learn to be wise.