Uncovering the Magic: The Potter - A Journey through Regina Nunn's Short Story

On a fun day in the mountains, the little boy with very dark curly hair came to an old shack near the great water falls at the Soque River. He had often fed the large trout as they swam in the water below the rails. But on this trip, he wanted to see the potter as he spun the clay around on his wheel. Each piece of clay had to be just what the potter wanted to turn out the perfect pottery piece.

As the potter turned the clay he saw a crack in his work, something that would cause the piece to be weak. He took the clay and threw it down on the wheel to begin again. This time he pounded, turned it over, and over again. The clay was very smooth and easier to work with after the potter had reshaped the whole lump. The clay went around and around, faster, and faster on the potter's wheel as the potter looked and felt carefully for any weakness in the clay. This teacup would be strong and beautiful for all to see it's usefulness and beauty.

The little boy looked around and saw other cups the potter had made that were for everyday use. But he could see the potter wanted this to be a different kind of cup as he carefully shaped the cup on his wheel. Large buckets of broken pottery were spilling over, even unto the floor. These were not strong enough for the task they were made for. So, when they were being fired, they broke into pieces of pottery, no use for anything.

The potter showed the little boy the teacup he had just finished on his wheel. The shape and size were perfect for a special place of honor, thought the boy as the potter placed it on the kiln. This fire would bring the teacup to a place of strength. The fire would be heated three different times for the teacup to be brilliant with color, strength, and beauty.

After the boy had grown into a man, one afternoon in the little shop near the old town hall, he was studying an old knife the owner said once belonged to the oldest man in Habersham County. The rough handle and strong blade were fascinating for the man as he rubbed his hand over the knife. He was not looking for anything in particular, but he glanced over the store to see all the unusual things the owner had on display. Then his eyes caught the sight of the beautiful teacup that he watched the potter make many years before on the potter's wheel on the Soque. As he reached for the teacup, he was almost afraid he would not be able to hold it without breaking it.

Once securely in his hands, he thought of how painful it would be if a human went through what this teacup had been through. Such a pounding, pounding again, and then shaped into a vessel on a spinning wheel. Then placed into the fire not once, but three times until the potter was sure the color, brilliance, and strength were there for the vessel to be ready for the potter's use. Then he remembered all the things that had been going on in his own life and how painful and hard it was day after day. He remembered how he leaned hard upon God and called upon Him for everything he needed. His life seemed to have spun out of control, but he always called on God for help.

He remembered how the Bible tells about God being the Potter and we are the clay; how He pounds us, spins us, fires us as many times that it takes for us to be strong and useful for His beautiful, brilliant work that He has called us and made us fit for. The clay cannot yell and scream to the potter and say, "Stop pounding me and spinning me, that makes me dizzy and don't even think of the fire, that is just too much." The potter is in total control of the clay and what he wants to make for a new vessel.

God is our Potter, and He has a great plan for each of His children to bring out the brilliance, color, and strength that only He can see. The man understood what God the Potter had been doing in his own life. Finally, all the loss, pain, grief all were to bring him to be all he could be as a vessel for the Potter's use. His focus went back to the teacup in his hands and decided to buy the teacup for his mantle where he could tell everyone about what a great Potter God is to all His children.