Two loves of my life are quilts and pottery. Although both have usually been intended for practical use, they have also emerged as precious expressions of beautiful art.
When I look at quilts I wonder whose clothes they were and what hands so meticulously created the quilt. Was it out of love and necessity or just for the sheer beauty.
Pottery is the same. Each piece tells a story of a potter who made objects for use and beauty. As much as I cherish quilts, I LOVE pottery. My fellow potter says to me frequently: “Want to go play in the mud with me?” The answer is always yes. I love the feel of the clay, the turning wheel and the toil—even the frustrations—of trying to create a piece.
Through my learning journey of becoming a potter, the lessons have included glimpses from the Lord about the way He interacts with His Creation. The first lesson for a potter: center the clay. Not an easy task. If you don’t center the clay properly, the clay will flail around, resist being pulled. More often than I’d like to admit, my clay has flown off the wheel completely. Isn’t it that way with us as God’s children? God is the master potter. He sits at his heavenly wheel, wraps his beautiful, strong hands around us, and begins to center us.
Like clay, we sometimes resist. As I sit at the wheel, I imagine saying to the clay, “Why do you resist me? I’m trying to make you into a vessel that will be both beautiful and of great use.” Does God think similarly towards us? Perhaps he says, “Oh child, let me center your mind so you can be used most effectively. Let me make you and mold you into the beautiful vessel you were meant to be.”
Once centered, the clay is then ready for the potter to pull it up. The pulling process needs to be slow and steady or the clay will break or fall. The potter studies the clay, learning how soft or hard it is, how strong or gentle the pull needs to be.
Similarly, God knows each of us so intimately that he knows the timing and pulling technique that will benefit us best. He knows each of us far better than we realize. He knows whether you need a firm touch with a quick pulling motion, or a softer touch and slower pull.
Every pottery vessel can be used for something. Some of my favorite pieces emerge when the clay bends a bit to the side or isn’t completely symmetrical. The cups of the set may not match perfectly, but they are still of great use. Some of my cracked pots are the most beautiful to me. They may not be suitable to hold drinks at dinner, but they sit in my garden with seed for the birds, or hold thriving plants, bringing great joy to me. With their imperfections, they are serving a rich purpose too.
As human beings working through this life, we are not perfect either. But we are all beautiful and highly valued in God’s kingdom. Each of us was created by the potter for His purposes. Life has a way of cracking us, even breaking us, his pots. Even in our brokenness, we still are beautiful to Him and useful for His purposes. I am learning more and more as I continue on this pottery path of the creative imagination of the great Potter.
In late 2017, I asked the Lord what I should do with the pottery I am creating, recognizing from the full shelves in my basement studio that I had enough inventory to share. Two events pointed the way toward launching a pottery business.
First, the church we had attended before moving to Philadelphia had started a program to help victims of war and gender violence in the Congo. Inspired by the resiliency of these Congolese trauma survivors, I decided to offer some of my pieces for sale to support Restoring Hope Ministries and other similar trauma healing efforts.
Second, I prayed and said, “Jesus, if you want me to start a business, you have to give me a name.” I had labored over dozens of names to no avail so my confidence was not high. Then one day—actually it was while I was taking a shower!—a name seemed to be deposited directly into my mind: “Dust to Dawn.” I was intrigued. So I looked both words up in the dictionary.
Dust means disintegrated, dead, buried, underground.
Dawn means integrated, alive, new.
Once I read the definitions, I knew that my pottery business had a name--“Dust To Dawn Pottery”—and that I had a new assignment for this season of my life.
Now armed with the right name and a fresh assignment, I also knew I had a mandate from the heavenly potter: to help those threatened by the disintegration of the human soul that results from trauma, offering them instead the integration and life that Jesus offers to those who suffer. That’s the transformation I want to support with my pottery.
Every piece carries a story: a useful and beautiful soul loved by God, but broken by trauma. When you buy a piece, you are sending needed resources that will make a Dust To Dawn difference in someone’s life, helping that survivor find a new normal. And my prayer is that each piece that sits on your mantle, your table, or in your garden will remind you that the person you helped with your purchase is of great use and exquisite beauty.
Thank you for working together with us to spread the Dust To Dawn story.
Enjoy!
Susan Briggs