"This is God's Work"

"We are the clay and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand"  Isaiah 64:8

This is a special verse for me.  It was given to me by Sister Elizabeth who was my spiritual director for an Ignatian Retreat in Daily Life which i undertook at St Andrews over 20 years ago.  But while it was offered to me for contemplation to help me with self-acceptance, love and care the previous verses speak of us being unclean, filthy.  And Merton's prayer for today begins:

"Artist-King, you who created us from impure clay..."

If we believe that all is created is made by the Divine Artist how can the clay be impure?  We are uniquely shaped and so have the fingerprint of God on our very being.  All that we do is God's work whether we  are a sturdy brick, a fine tea-cup or a broken roof-tile.

I struggle to accept who i am, particularly body and mind.  I long for greater self-acceptance but it's as if i have been created as a plate and i want to be a cup!

Part of my preparation for the rebirth of the Divine this Christmas is to practice being, being present.

I learnt a new word today - parousia.  It was used in an essay on ethics to refer to the Second Coming.  On doing a bit of research i found out that it is Greek for presence from parousa, the feminine present participle of pareinai, to be present.  And its other use is to refer to ADVENT.  I long for Parousia, for embodiment, for peace.