The Potter and the Clay

Yesterday, a brother passed me a portfolio of artists on the north coast of Taiwan (北海岸藝術家), mainly working with glass, stone and clay, including himself, a potter.

My mind couldn't help but flash back to the time when I was exploring pottery, keen to understand experientially the words of Isaiah (64:8):

ועתה יהוה אבינו אתה אנחנו החמר ואתה יצרנו ומעשׂה ידך כלנו׃

But now, O LORD, Thou art our Father; we are the clay, and Thou our potter, and we all are the work of Thy hand.

耶和華啊，現在你仍是我們的父！我們是泥，你是窯匠；我們都是你手的工作。

Working with clay is not at all easy! It's messy and oftentimes, risky and therefore frustrating. That's when the piece doesn't turn out the way you want. But you go back to the wheel again, hoping afresh, as you watch the clay take form between your coaxing fingers. Sometimes you go along with the unintended effects, compromising your design , and get pleasant surprises.

God did not simply command man into existence, but lovingly fashioned him according to His design. Even now He shapes and moulds us, sometimes going along with our stubborn ways, allowing mistakes (not His doing but ours). Nonetheless, He always coaxes us back into form, working around our flaws ever so skillfully and patiently. Indeed we are His workmanship, His masterpiece, fearfully and wonderfully made (Eph 2:10; Ps 139:14).

種花

最近認識了一對半退休的夫婦，先生滿腔熱誠，想到什麽就做什麽，太太很柔和，相當細心，one is candid, the other, calculated。不久前，先生向人家要了百多棵杜鵑花，想把它們栽在教堂的花園裡，也叫了幾個好友來幫忙。

未動工前，他太太向他反應，杜鵑花只在三月開放，還是不要種好了。先生卻説：「花哪兒有常年都開的呀？！」太太很溫和的解釋：「這裡有些花開的比較久，再説，杜鵑花的葉子也不好看，所以不開花時，真的會破壞這兒的美觀」。

「可是開花的時候妳就知道它漂亮啦。」

「是，是，不過一年只開一次花。。。」

「花豈有每個月都開的呀？好啦，換個位置。。。這裡不很明顯，總可以吧？」

先生隨身就挑起工具，到較後邊開始挖泥土。太太連忙阻止，因爲會擋倒了一些更漂亮的植物。先生很不解，説道：「爲什麽不好？擋到的也是葉子呀！」

「你聼我說，這裡有幾種不同的植物，有紅、有綠，有高、有低，是故意搭配的。你把人家擋住，真的不好看。」

站在旁邊的人也表示同意，勸他三思。

「但我辛辛苦苦，忙了整個下午，把這百多棵整理好，也載來了，豈不都成了費功夫？還有，這麽好的花免費得到，外面一棵賣千多塊，扔了太可惜！」

如果花兒會說話，不知會發出什麽心聲？花的美，到底在於它天然、純樸、單獨的美，還是需要整體花園的設計和其他花草的搭配？Is beauty in the eye of the beholder, or is it intrinsic beauty that matters, regardless of anything else? 或者野地的花，才是最漂亮？

後來，先生只好順著大家的意見，放棄種花的工程，他非常不捨地把杜鵑再放進車子，開到他晨運的地方，把心愛的花放下，寫了一張紙條：送給愛花者/請自取。

澎湖的黃昏

上星期在澎湖玩了4天，戲水、採集、游泳、吹海風。。。最後一晚原本要看日落，可惜夕陽被密雲遮住而看不到。即便這樣，我的腦海中彷彿出現了美麗迷人的晚霞；從懂事以來，黃昏對我來講，是那麽充滿魅力，我喜歡黃昏，以及它所帶來惆悵的感覺。

性情中人，就是這樣子，若不是認識了主，我生命的太陽，早就埋沒在潮汐中了。