The Lord God formed man out of the clay of the ground Genesis 2: 7
I recently attended a retreat at the Avila Center in Durham. Our topic was about using art as a form of prayer. One of our exercises was to take a lump of potter’s clay and see what emerged as we kneaded the clay in our hands. One of the participants remarked how cold, clammy and heavy the clay was and she wondered if God viewed us like that.
Are we cold, clammy and heavy in God’s hands OR are we pliable and warming to God’s promptings to form us in the image of the Son?
I have often thought that in my many years of participating with Habitat for Humanity, my soul and my heart has been stretched and formed, much like the lump of clay on a potter’s wheel. How so much of my life has morphed and changed from my very first encounter with the working poor until today. How it wasn’t until I really got to know a truly poor person that I could see they were just like me in their hopes, dreams, and aspirations.
In their pastoral letter on Catholic social teaching and the U.S. economy titled, Economic Justice for All (#88, 1986), the U.S. Catholic Bishops teach the following: the option for the poor “states that the deprivation and powerlessness of the poor wounds the whole community. The extent of their suffering is a measure of how far we are from being a true community of persons. These wounds will be healed only by greater solidarity with the poor and among the poor themselves.” Solidarity—clay that has been properly prepared so that the air bubbles are removed (in a process called “wedging”) will not fall apart when it is put in the heat of the kiln. How much stronger is a community that stands with its weakest links.
By the way, my lump of clay became a butterfly!
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