Wednesday, January 04, 2006
CONTINUING THE FIRST WEEK OF MAY....2001
Today marks my second anniversary of blogging. Along with all of you, I am amazed at the friendships made and the horizons I’ve traveled through cyber space. Somewhere in the great expanse of space and words we have connected and I am the better for it. Thomas Jefferson once said, “Though an old man I am a young gardener.” I take his thought and echo, “Though in the sunset of my life I am forever young in blogging.” You have added much pleasure to my life. Thanks!
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To continue with the story of Esther,
We arrived early for the Passion Play, secured our tickets and then we had time to go to the Potter’s narrative. There was a wooden porch overhang and a man came out of the small door. He was dressed in a robe and sandals and looked amazingly like the pictures of Christ that we are all familiar with. He began talking to the crowd assembled on a small bleacher as he began to make his clay.
He talked slowly and audibly as he worked the clay with his hands and told us how you had to have just the right kind of clay to make a strong vessel. We were lost in his story as he was shaping the object he wanted to make….what he looked for and how it felt in his hands. “The clay didn’t resist or ask to be made into something else,”….. it was supple in his hands to be formed as he worked. Sometimes he didn’t know in the beginning just how he would fashion the piece but as he worked it, his perfect plan formed.
His potter’s wheel turned as he peddled with his foot….and he could run his hands up and down the clay making it into many shapes. If he wasn’t satisfied with it he would remove it from the wheel and pat it into a lump once more…….then begin all over. The end result was the finished product. The substance and the shape were there but it would be very fragile until it was fired to make it strong.
The small crowd was mesmerized as he told his story. He continued working the clay on the wheel and when he set it aside, he showed us the finished product. It had been fired, painted and fired once more. It was now useable and had a purpose. The hands of the potter had made a piece that was complete and beautiful. When he was through talking we sat there for a few minutes, not wanting the moment to pass.
We did walk over to the items on display and I purchased one for us and one for Becky. I still have it and I love the piece. The Passion Play was to begin at 8:30 so we bought a program and took our seats. We noticed that the man playing the part of Christ was our Potter. I could not imagine a better person for the part.
The night was balmy with a hint of a breeze from time to time. Our seats were in a large amphitheater and the semi-circular stage was carved out of the opposite hill. The set was made up of buildings and there were live sheep and goats, camels, horses and such things as doves to depict a natural scene. The story of the Passion of Christ was acted out before our eyes in the most believable way. We had no trouble hearing…….the acoustics were excellent. The grand pageantry of the Roman officials and the sad trial that sent Christ to the cross was overwhelming. In the two hours we sat there….with many small children in attendance with their parents; we didn’t hear a sound or have any disturbing distractions at all.
Rocky and I sat in silence, occasionally looking at the crescent moon that hung over the Christ of the Ozarks……..an enormous figure that stood on one of the highest points so that it is seen from a great distance. The stars twinkled overall to make a most inspirational evening. With the words of the pastor who married us still fresh in our minds and the play we just witnessed, we were full to the brim with emotion. It seemed God had a plan from the beginning to bring us together….but it would not be in our youth. He would have us wait until we had journeyed far…….and then we would understand his gift of being together.
It is in losing your life you find you can live it……..in living your life you find you can give it…..
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
************************************************************************
To continue with the story of Esther,
We arrived early for the Passion Play, secured our tickets and then we had time to go to the Potter’s narrative. There was a wooden porch overhang and a man came out of the small door. He was dressed in a robe and sandals and looked amazingly like the pictures of Christ that we are all familiar with. He began talking to the crowd assembled on a small bleacher as he began to make his clay.
He talked slowly and audibly as he worked the clay with his hands and told us how you had to have just the right kind of clay to make a strong vessel. We were lost in his story as he was shaping the object he wanted to make….what he looked for and how it felt in his hands. “The clay didn’t resist or ask to be made into something else,”….. it was supple in his hands to be formed as he worked. Sometimes he didn’t know in the beginning just how he would fashion the piece but as he worked it, his perfect plan formed.
His potter’s wheel turned as he peddled with his foot….and he could run his hands up and down the clay making it into many shapes. If he wasn’t satisfied with it he would remove it from the wheel and pat it into a lump once more…….then begin all over. The end result was the finished product. The substance and the shape were there but it would be very fragile until it was fired to make it strong.
The small crowd was mesmerized as he told his story. He continued working the clay on the wheel and when he set it aside, he showed us the finished product. It had been fired, painted and fired once more. It was now useable and had a purpose. The hands of the potter had made a piece that was complete and beautiful. When he was through talking we sat there for a few minutes, not wanting the moment to pass.
We did walk over to the items on display and I purchased one for us and one for Becky. I still have it and I love the piece. The Passion Play was to begin at 8:30 so we bought a program and took our seats. We noticed that the man playing the part of Christ was our Potter. I could not imagine a better person for the part.
The night was balmy with a hint of a breeze from time to time. Our seats were in a large amphitheater and the semi-circular stage was carved out of the opposite hill. The set was made up of buildings and there were live sheep and goats, camels, horses and such things as doves to depict a natural scene. The story of the Passion of Christ was acted out before our eyes in the most believable way. We had no trouble hearing…….the acoustics were excellent. The grand pageantry of the Roman officials and the sad trial that sent Christ to the cross was overwhelming. In the two hours we sat there….with many small children in attendance with their parents; we didn’t hear a sound or have any disturbing distractions at all.
Rocky and I sat in silence, occasionally looking at the crescent moon that hung over the Christ of the Ozarks……..an enormous figure that stood on one of the highest points so that it is seen from a great distance. The stars twinkled overall to make a most inspirational evening. With the words of the pastor who married us still fresh in our minds and the play we just witnessed, we were full to the brim with emotion. It seemed God had a plan from the beginning to bring us together….but it would not be in our youth. He would have us wait until we had journeyed far…….and then we would understand his gift of being together.
It is in losing your life you find you can live it……..in living your life you find you can give it…..
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
