It occurred to me the other day that the love of God is a lot like a gentle pressure. I've noticed that God pursues but not in pursuit. There was a time when I was afraid to pray and gently and slowly God whittled away that fear, now I mostly look forward to it.
Gentle pressure is something you hear about in massage or other physical therapy which seems somehow appropriate. There is also a great deal of this in creating wheel thrown pottery.
Wheel work with pottery goes something like this:
You force clay into the center, you then perfect that center. You raise and lower the body of clay a few times to redistribute all the clay evening it out, making it more plastic and getting the moisture similar throughout. After that you open it with a thumb or finger using gentle pressure down into the middle--a light touch helps to not go through the bottom--you have to consistently keep in mind this particular piece of clay's characteristics. After opening you begin to form the vessel. You must keep your body completely still while using your hands and arms to pull the walls into place. When you begin you must set a standard width somehow, within two to three pulls up the wall you will know when to stop. When you move up the walls with your fingers the pressure changes, more firm at the base and less firm at the top. If you don't do this gradually the vessel is unstable and collapses or rips off. When you do this and go slowly forcing the clay to move with delicate force and slow refinement it works. After a few general swipes on the generic form then you begin shaping the piece. That is where the piece becomes unique. You use tools and create marks...then onto firing.
There is no mistake that the Bible parallels the work of the potter with the work of God in our lives. The vague to specific modifications the firing process and glazing, not escaping the "mark of the potter" that is always left behind.
