The Potter and his Son

And yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay and you are the Potter. We are all formed by your hand. Oh, be not so angry with us, Lord, nor forever remember our sins. Oh, look and see that we are all your people. 
Jeremiah 18:8-9

Morris & James is a well known pottery in Matakana about an hour North of Auckland.

We visited there on 28th November and were given a generous free tour of the extensive site by the owner who is the Potter. The most remarkable thing of all was that the entire plant is operated by only 2 workers - the Potter and his Son - producing 1000's of pots a year.

The sculpturing time is only the length of a pop song but the entire process takes several months.

What I can remember from the tour;
- Clay is excavated on site
- 1000 tonnes per year.
- Sifted
- Mixed with west coast black sand
- Extruded into bricks
- Left wet for a month
- Processed into tubes
- Sculpted into pots (shown on the video)
- Transported to drying room
- Dried for a month
- Pots shrink as they dry
- Put in oven to 925°C . Sand turns to glass and comes to the surface giving red terracotta colour
- Painted, glazed and heated to 1060°C making the glassy effect




The illustration is a timeless one. The Bible says that in the beginning we were formed from the clay in the ground. 

 The time came when the Lord God formed a man’s body from the dust of the ground and breathed into it the breath of life. And man became a living person. 
Genesis 2:7


You may not be convinced about the Creation but the fact remains that our bodies are composed of all the elements in the ground. It is an evidence for God. And the Potter is not averse to starting his work all over again should it not turn out the way he envisioned!


Soon I will be turning 50 years old with what changes that may bring. I will be changing jobs very soon and with that a new direction! Perhaps you won't recognise me in a while. Don't worry, I'm the clay in the Potters hands, I'll turn out alright.