I saw God (as Christ) seated at a potter’s wheel, shaping the vessel that is me. I saw that in His hands on the wheel I was the beginning of a chalice. The base and stem were well-formed but the rest was a misshapen mass of clay that seemed to refuse to take shape.  I asked the Lord, “Why don’t you just start over?”  He said, “Each of my vessels, like you, is unique. I don’t start over because I don’t want to lose its shape, its line, its form.”  At that, He stopped the wheel for a moment and, reaching into the unshaped mass of clay, removed a stone. Then He reached down below the wheel and picked up a small piece of new clay and put it into the place where the stone had been.  It was slightly lighter in color.  He again put his foot to the treadle and the wheel began to spin again.  Gently, He applied His hands to the clay and the bowl of the chalice slowly began to take shape. He said, “I want to be able to pour myself out in you fully but for now, this will do. He stopped the wheel again and picked up the incomplete chalice.  Pouring wine into it, He raised it up and said, “This is my blood, shed for you. Drink of it.”  I noticed then that the patch of new clay had formed the shape of a cross.

I asked, “Why do you continue to use imperfect vessels?” He answered, “Each of my vessels is flawed. Yet, in time, each will be made perfect.” Then I asked, “What shape do you want my life to take?” The Lord answered me again, saying, “I’m less concerned with shape than with volume and capacity.  I want to be poured out fully in you.”