Making Mudpies

I think one of the secrets to living life well is practicing the art of making mudpies.

There is nothing like the childish delight of sinking small arms into the middle of a muddy mess, making a "delicious" pie, and then serving it to an obliging parent. Growing too big, too sophisticated, or too careful to make mudpies is tragic. 

Most people's lives are muddy messes. Some are messier than others, but no one gets through life without encountering mud.

The choice then, is not between mud or no mud. It is between being the unhappy child futilely trying with dirty fingers to wipe the mud away, or being the bold child who wades in, plops down with a broad smile, and makes something beautiful from it.

God is the master mudpie maker. He made humans from mud. He cured blindness with mud. He did it, in part, because his beauty is all the more visible dramatically framed in simple, clay, cracked, human pots.

I want to reflect his image in this. I want to remember how to wade into the mess with a smile on my face, and help Him create something beautiful from the mud.

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us." 2 Corinthians 4:7 (ESV)