Writing about the quest of my art class for red clay has reminded me about one of my favorite books—Sue Bender's Everyday Sacred, which describes a similar sort of spiritual quest. Her journey began with the mental image of the begging bowl, an empty bowl which monks carry each day with them into the countryside, accepting whatever is placed in it as their nourishment of the day. She realized she too was a receptacle waiting to be filled. And then, with clay, she began making tangible bowls, and writing about their making and about what each day offered. The daily sacrament. It is a wise and wonderful journey. I must read it again.
image: Enamelled ceramic bowl with Design of Melons in Black Ground, late 17th century, by MOKUBEI (ACE1767-1833), Kyoto, Japan; Photo: YAMATO-BUNKAKAN
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