The clay pot, a Christmas gift from our son Peter and his wife Bonnie, sits in our dining room as a living reminder of both home and heritage--of our address in life, our current home, and our family name, an inheritance we share with all the saints in light.At first, standing alone, it was merely a clay pot, one more reminder that all of us are temporary, nothing but the dust from which clay is made. But used to host a small green tree now thriving within it, and graced by the sun streaming in through our dining room window, it has taken on a life of its own--symbolizing both the roots from which we have come and the wings those roots are meant to supply.
As Christians it is good to heed the Apostle Paul's reminder that "we are no better than pots of earthenware to contain this treasure" (2 Corinthians 4:7), referring of course to the freshness of new life in Christ. Whatever is green in us and growing, nurtured by his Spirit and light, lends meaning to everything else that is only temporary. The key to living is simply to host in the clay pots we are the fresh new life he offers within, fed by the same sunlight he once shed on our forebears, that we, like them, may "declare the wonderful deeds of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light" (1 Peter 2:9b).
.JPG)