On the cover of my...
Illustration
On the cover of my book, Dirty Hands, Pure Hearts, published by CSS, there is a striking portrait of a potter carefully molding clay which will enable him to produce lovely pottery. A few years ago while visiting Bethlehem, I marveled at the skill of the Arab potters in the region. One of the Arab craftsmen told me the pottery business is taught from father to son and many generations of Bethlehemites have earned their livings producing beautiful pottery sold to a largely tourist clientele.
Jeremiah saw in the skill which led to the production of pottery something more than beauty or even utilization necessity. The weeping prophet saw, with spiritual acuity, the potter as symbolic of how our Father God molds persons and nations in his hands. God does have the "Whole World in His Hands."
Poet Adelaide A. Pollard used our passage to inspire her writing of the Christian hymn classic, "Have Thine Own Way."
Have Thine own way, Lord!
Have Thine own way!
Thou art the Potter;
I am the clay.
Mold me and make me
After thy will
While I am waiting,
Yielded and still.
Jeremiah saw in the skill which led to the production of pottery something more than beauty or even utilization necessity. The weeping prophet saw, with spiritual acuity, the potter as symbolic of how our Father God molds persons and nations in his hands. God does have the "Whole World in His Hands."
Poet Adelaide A. Pollard used our passage to inspire her writing of the Christian hymn classic, "Have Thine Own Way."
Have Thine own way, Lord!
Have Thine own way!
Thou art the Potter;
I am the clay.
Mold me and make me
After thy will
While I am waiting,
Yielded and still.
