‘Something as simple as a coffee mug has so many elements that need attention.’ Created by Fr. Theophan
By Father Theophan
Saint Job of Pochaiv Orthodox Church
Los Alamos
It really is the little things that make all the difference. Something as simple as a coffee mug has so many elements that need attention.
How big should it be; how much should it hold? Shape, lip, thickness, and weight? Handle or no? If handle, then is it rolled, molded, pulled, or carved? And all the questions of shape and harmony with the body of the mug arise. The iterations are nigh unto endless.
The wrong diameter, rough lip, or awkward handle can make a mug completely unusable, or at least relegate it to the back of the cupboard until the next spring cleaning.
There are a few things the potter can do to mitigate these challenges.
One can start with a set amount of clay. One pound of clay makes for a nice large mug. A little cross made from a popsicle stick and a kebab skewer can guide the width and depth of the pot while throwing. A rib (a flat wooden or metal scraper) can be fashioned with part or all of the profile of the desired pot.
All those efforts being in place, the pot can still take on many different forms. The difference between a three-inch-wide base and a three-and-a-quarter-inch base completely changes the proportions and look of a finished piece.
And that’s all without touching on finishing and glazing.
But after a while, and after a fashion, we can and do make a comfortable mug, and we finish it nicely, and get to drink coffee from it. Or we put flowers in the vase or plant the bonsai tree.
We do make a go of it.
There are so many choices in our lives, a myriad just in our internal lives. How do we see the world, is it mostly good? Mostly bad? Random?
Fallen? Are people good or bad? Are they worthwhile in and of themselves or only important if they can contribute to society, or to our ends personally? At what point is personhood bestowed on an individual? When is it gone? How do we go about struggling against the ills of society? Do we struggle? Should we struggle?
These, and more, are philosophical questions that have real world relevance.
“The unexamined life is not worth living.” Truth is truth even uttered three-thousand years ago.
When we totally ascribe to a philosophical school or religious tradition, or God forbid, a political party, we let go of a lot of the questions. We let the founders and shapers of the platform make our decisions for us.
“What do you think about that?”
“Hold on, let me check Fox News (or NPR, CNN, etc.)”
When we hand over our decisions, our opinions and thoughts, to someone else, we lose our nuance. Yes, it is more convenient and easier to wave the banner of a cause and give oneself over to an ideology. When we have an ideology at least we have something to identify with. It is much more difficult and tenuous and dangerous to have our own ideas.
One might immediately throw up an objection.
“But Father, be honest, you’re a priest in a very traditional faith! You have bought in and signed over your nuances. You are one of those radical (backward, homophobic, hateful, etc.) Christians.”
Although I would gladly and humbly accept the label of “radical Christian,” I tenaciously hold on to my right to nuanced belief. I pray that I can avoid the other labels. All those accusations and
reservations that people level at Christians, some very deservedly, I have wrestled with as well. And some of them remain uncomfortable.
But I, and others, still have a go at it.
Somehow, we still need to make something beautiful of our lives, find meaning, make connections. A mass-produced mug bought at a big box store is an efficient caffeine conveyance, but it has no individual character, no inner-life.
Try flirting with nuance, you might find a handle that fits you better.
