July 2026

“The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Come, go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. The vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to him. – Jeremiah 18: 1-4”

Many years ago, I attended a women’s retreat with the theme of “God’s Vessel” where we talked about what it meant to be molded by God.  The retreat coordinator had arranged to bring in a local potter who brought a bunch of clay and his potting wheel, and we each had an opportunity to create something with his guidance.  I am not 100% sure what I meant to make that day, but I ended up making a vase.  Throwing pottery is a lot harder than it looks, you have to maintain the correct balance of moisture, balance, pressure, creativity and patience.  As I was bringing up the sides of the vase and trying to create a little flare toward the top, I had exerted a little too much pressure at one point, which weakened the wall of the vase, and it almost collapsed.  The potter was able to take over and save my project, but I will never forget the feeling of almost running what I had worked so hard on.  

This idea of creating and re-creating when things go a bit cattywampus is intriguing to me as a pastor.  The undeniable truth of being human is that we all make mistakes, so this idea that when we err, when we have exerted a bit too much pressure on the wall of our vase and it has collapsed, we are not irreparable.  We just have to start over and begin again to work to reform ourselves into who God meant us to be.  

I often find myself asking, “Am I who God meant me to be?" As church, we should be asking ourselves that question too, “Are we the disciples God meant us to be?” Do we love with the love of God, do we care for others with the compassion of Christ, do we listen for and follow the voice of the Holy Spirit? If the answer is no, then we have some re-shaping to do. 

As we journey through this next month let’s try to be aware of those moments when our vase is in peril of collapse, those moments when we may not exactly be acting, thinking, writing, speaking in a way that honors God. If we find ourselves in that moment, all we have to do is reach out to God and ask for a bit of help to correct our hand positioning or the amount of pressure we are exerting.  When we keep God center in all we do, we can be the beautiful creation God meant us to be.

Blessings,

Pastor Lesley