Sincere
Write a new post in response to today’s one-word prompt
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In years gone by, a potter would occasionally drop a piece he’d been working on, or it would crack under the heat of the fire. It was common then to fill the cracks with wax, paint the object, and fire it for the final time. It looked perfect, and the untrained eye would never notice that repairs had been made.
An experienced person, however, would hold the object up to the bright light of the sun, turning it carefully and slowly while inspecting it for hidden flaws. The object was worthless if it was discovered to be “insincere.” A worthy piece of pottery was sincere, or without wax.
The pastor who explained this to us was using it as an object lesson. We might try to cover our brokenness, our insincerity, in an effort to look good to those around us. Sooner or later, though the cracks are going to reveal themselves and we will be discovered to be insincere. And God knows it right from the start. There’s no fooling Him.
Unlike worthless pottery, though, we can deal with our own flaws and cracks through humility and honest repentance, seeking forgiveness where we have done wrong and turning away from that behavior. We can become sincere through the grace and mercy of the God Who loves us and is ready and willing to use a cracked vessel.
Just Writing! 
Enjoyed this little lesson. I never knew we got the word sincere from the French sans cere — probably Latin origin. It must have been pretty good wax to stand up and not melt away in the kiln fire.
And the second part is true, too: we can be healed of our imperfections. Though we often don’t even recognize them as flaws ourselves.Usually we prefer, “This is just how I am; take it or leave it.” 🙂
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Interesting. In people the repaired cracks aren’t so bad, they let the Light shine through.
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Somebody wrote a book many years back called “God Uses Cracked Pots.” Patsy something? Very funny, very encouraging. Claremont! Patsy Claremont. Truth is, we’re all cracked 🙂
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Clairmont (not to be the spelling police). I remember that book – in fact I thought of it while I was reading your post. I think I still have it somewhere. I remember hearing her speak at a retreat years ago around the time it came out. She was a hoot.
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Yes, very funny. And I figured out the spelling after I sent the response, but was too lazy to fix it 🙂
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