The potter and the teacup

The potter and teacup


There was a couple who took a trip to England to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. While there, they shopped in a beautiful antique store; they both liked antiques and pottery, and especially teacups.
Spotting an exceptional cup, they asked, 'May we see that? We've never seen a cup quite so beautiful.'As the lady handed it to them, suddenly the teacup spoke, 'You don't understand. I have not always been a teacup. There was a time when I was just a lump of red clay. My Master took me and rolled me pounded and patted me over and over and I yelled out, 'Don't do that.' 'I don't
like it! Let me alone.' But He only smiled, and gently said, 'Not yet!'
'Then WHAM! I was placed on a spinning wheel and suddenly I was spun around and around and around. 'Stop it! I'm getting so dizzy! I'm going to be sick!' I screamed. But the Master only nodded and said, quietly,
'Not yet.' 
He spun me and poked and prodded and bent me out of shape to suit Himself and then He put me in the oven. I never felt such heat. I yelled and knocked and pounded at the door. 'Help! Get me out of here!'


I could see Him through the opening and I could read His lips as he shook His head from side to side, saying, 'Not yet.'
'When I thought I couldn't bear it another minute, the door opened. He carefully took me out and put me on the shelf, and I began to cool. Oh,that felt so good! 'Ah, this is much better,' I thought. But, after I cooled, He picked me up and brushed and painted me all over. The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag. 'Oh, please, Stop it, Stop, I cried.' He only shook his head and said, 'Not yet!'


Then suddenly He put me back into the oven. Only it was not like the first one. This was twice as hot and I just knew that I would suffocate. I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried. I was convinced Iwould never make it. I was ready to give up. Just then the door opened and He took me out and again placed me on the shelf, where I cooled and waited and waited, wondering 'What's He going to do to me next?'
'An hour later He handed me a mirror and said, 'Look at yourself.' And I did. I said, 'That's not me; that couldn't be me. It's beautiful. I'm beautiful!!!'


Quietly He spoke: 'I want you to remember,' He said, 'I know it hurt to be rolled and pounded and patted, but had I just left you alone, you'd have dried up. I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel,
but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled. I know it hurt and it was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn't put you there,you would have cracked. I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and
painted you all over, but if I hadn't done that, you never would have hardened. You would not have had any color in your life. If I hadn't put you back in that second oven, you wouldn't have survived for long because the hardness would not have held. Now you are a finished product. Now you are what I had in mind when I first began with you.'


Had the piece of clay known it's fate, would it have suffered less through the making? Would the image of the beautiful cup helped it go through the process with a much better attitude? It is the uncertainty in life that makes one anxious and nervous and cry out in pain. But, with a little glimpse of the outcome, the light at the end of the tunnel, the painful suffering will only make one more enduring and strong.


Why did the potter not tell the piece of clay about the end result,so that the tea cup could have rather enjoyed it's making than suffer through it? The potter expects some amount of trust from the piece of clay, once it is in his hands. This piece might have been lying there for some time but once it got into the hands of the potter, there is nothing more to worry about. No matter how much it hurts when he pulls in all directions and how much painful the process is, the Potter knows what he is doing, so a little amount of trust, trust which had come without even seeing the beautiful end product, blind trust which had come just by being in the hands of the potter, would have made it enjoy it's transformation.


Why does the Potter make the piece of clay go through in numerous sufferings while there are still others who have become beautiful tea cups without going through any of these? No cup is made without going through the entire process, it is simply not possible. But, how different pieces react to the same conditions/tests such as heat or fumes, differs from clay to clay.


There is one set of clay which thinks that the Potter is out there to torture and destroy them and go through the entire process screaming all the way only to stop until they see their beautiful reflection on the mirror. They are pretty exhausted by the time they become the cup and have very less energy to appreciate their beauty.


The other set of clay are confused and come into the hands of the potter with a little trust but lot of apprehension and scream now and then during the process, but endure it a little bit as well. When they
see the beautiful reflection on the mirror, they are taken by surprise and their trust in the potter increases hundred fold.


The last set of clay are the so called 'trusters', those with unflinching trust and confidence on the potter. They are anxious, tense, confused when they are waiting, but the moment they get into the potter's hands, rest at ease and let the potter take control. They totally surrender to the Potter's will and let him twist and tweak as
he pleases. They go through all the painful process, only with the endurance and faith. It is these pieces of clay that come out of the potter's hands as the 'most beautiful' cups ever made, due to their unfailing trust and cooperation with the Potter in spite of the terrible pain.


Wont it be splendid if all of us became 'the beautiful cup' at the end of it, right now, right this minute, ending the so long wait? But, isn't there just one potter out there busy molding one piece of clay at a time amongst the million others still in the line? The potter always has his eyes on all the million pieces of clay and yet one has to wait to get into his hands for the special molding. So, let's wait our turn and some day, this amazing potter, the Great God, will pick us up and make us one of the most beautiful cups there ever is and all he needs is a little bit of trust and cooperation from us.


Moral of the story:

We are all pieces of clay in the hands of the divine potter. We need to trust that all the agonies we are put through will make us stronger, better,wiser and tougher people and also making us more sensitive to other people's problems.


So when life seems hard, and you are being pounded and patted and pushed almost beyond endurance; when your world seems to be spinning out of control; when you feel like you are in a fiery furnace of trials;  try this…. – Brew a cup of your favorite tea in your prettiest teacup, sit down and think on this story !

What are you? A Carrot, An Egg or a Cup of Coffee

 A Carrot, An Egg and a Cup of Coffee

A girl went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her.  She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up.  She was tired of fighting and struggling.  It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.  Her mother took her to the kitchen.  She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire.  Soon the pots came to boil.   In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans.  She let them sit and boil, without saying a word.  In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.   Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me, what you see?"   "Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.  Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft.  The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg.  Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee.  The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma.  The daughter then asked, "What does it mean, mother?"  Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity ...  boiling water.  Each reacted differently.   The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting.  However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.   The egg had been fragile.  Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however.  After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.  "Which are you?" she asked her daughter.  "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?"  Think of this: Which am I?  Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?  Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat?  Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff?  Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I tough with a stiff spirit ?  Or am I like the coffee bean?  The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain.  When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor.  If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level?  How do you handle adversity?  Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean!