In The Potter's Hands

WHEN I BEGAN

Who can say how long 

    this lump of clay lay waiting.

Astronomers speak of billions of years,

    far too many for me to grasp.

What I understand 

    and know for certain,

    that in a long planned moment 

        it came to pass,

    when the Potter's hands reached down

and scooped it up - I began

I was not consulted about this chosen time,

    nor shape or form for this vessel

        that I am.

What was given were eyes with which to see and marvel

    at what would unfolded in the Potter's hands,

    to watch and comprehend how perfectly

        I was made to fit into His grand design.

Each new day assigns but a single task,
that I submit to the grasp of these Hands forming me,

    sometimes firm and deliberate, shaping and reshaping,

        softening this clay when it hardens and resists,

    sometimes gentle and forgiving,

        when this clay forgets and muses that it shapes itself.

How long will it take for the Potter to complete His work

    I do not know, nor has it been told to me.

I am to look to the past as every apprentice should,

    seeking to learn the art of collaboration.

I am to look to the future with complete and unhindered trust.

I am to look upon today as the one appointed,

    to take up the task,

        to be and become, me
            in the Potter's hands.