From the Vicarage

The other Sunday I was talking to a parishioner after the service and we both agreed that everybody is flawed in some way, that none of us are perfect. I went away pondering, as I often do!! This conversation reminded me of the vision of God as a potter and that we are his creations – pots of all different shapes, sizes and different clays and glazes. It also reminded me that we are all cracked, or broken pots and that beauty could come out of that brokenness. The other thought that struck me was the idea of broken pots being mended, the kintsugi technique, where broken pots are repaired with gold and valued even more for this beautiful repair. This final thought then trigged another memory of a story that one of my volunteers from Norton Priory gave to me as I started my training for ordination - and so, I would like to share this story with you this month as when I have shared it in the past nobody had heard of it, and it is a lovely story which should resonate with all of us, as in some way we are all cracked pots.

THE CRACKED POT:

Author unknown – either an old Indian or Chinese story.

A water bearer in India had two large pots, one hung on each end of a pole, which she carried across her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it. While the other pot was perfect, and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the mistress's house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to her master's house. The perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.

After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream: "I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you."

"Why?" asked the bearer. "What are you ashamed of?"

"I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your mistress's house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts," the pot said.

The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in her compassion she said, "As we return to the mistress's house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path." Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some. But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again it apologized to the bearer for its failure.

The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side? “That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them. “For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my mistress's table. Without you being just the way you are, she would not have this beauty to grace her house."

Moral: Each of us has our own unique flaws. We're all cracked pots. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. We've just got to take each person for what they are, and look for the good in them. There's a lot of good out there.

Personally I think that this is a lovely story that relates to each and every one of us. In some way we are all cracked pots and God uses our imperfections to do marvellous things in his creation. So let us all celebrate each others differences, and realise that we are all beautiful in the sight of God.

With all Gods Blessings

Robert