The prophet Jeremiah sees what must have been a common site in ancient Jerusalem, a shop where you would go to get your kitchen supplies, and saw there an metaphor of how God deals with us: Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand. The image is not merely that God molds us and shapes us into something useful but, more importantly, that God doesn’t give up on us. If the pot is not looking as the potter intended s/he will ball the clay up and start again, working with the material until it comes out right. So God with us. Even if we are a mess currently God will continue to shower upon us graces which will point us, push us in the right direction. We should never feel “this is just the way I am” for God continues to help us to become better, to become more compassionate and forgiving.
