The other day a friend unexpectedly stopped by to say hi and gifted me this vase and flowers. She said as soon as she saw the vase she knew it was for me, and that I had a story to tell about it.
And she was right.
Why?
Because, friends, this is the most beautiful vase I have ever seen.
You may be thinking, “it’s so plain?”
But is it?
What makes this vase so beautiful is that they forgot to glaze the outside but they had glazed the inside. So when they went to fire it, the outside remained the clay color yet the inside was transformed (see the second picture). Once the vase is fired, it cannot be fired again. So this vase will remain unglazed on the outside with inner beauty that only few will see because many will pass it by because of how it looks on the outside.
Think about that for a moment…
The inner beauty will rarely be seen because many will pass it by based on its outer appearance.
Now let’s take that same principle to people.
How many people do we walk, or scroll, by because of their outer appearance? Imagine how many beautiful souls we miss out on meeting. I invite you to join me to…
pause. breathe. pray.
Moving forward may we remember we are all like jars of clay, molded by God, each beautifully unique. May we choose to look beyond the surface, when we see people. For when we do this, we can meet people at the heart, as God does. And by living this way we may just meet the most beautiful souls who are precious gifts in our lives - like this friend is to me who give gifts from the heart, to the heart.
With love and hope,
Shawn
People look at the surface but God looks at the heart. - 1 Samuel 16:7