Blessed are the Merciful
A Call to Reflection Through Clay
The Beatitude Collection is a concept for integrating the Beatitudes into functional pottery as daily reminders of reflection and action. By pressing these words into bowls, mugs, and dishes, makers can create pieces that encourage contemplation in a world filled with distraction. The Beatitudes are more than text—they are seeds of change, and perhaps now more than ever, they need to be lived rather than just read. This is an open invitation for any maker to take the idea and craft their own interpretation.
I’ve always found value in keeping my religious beliefs at arm’s length—not committing to a single ideology but instead making the rounds, exploring texts and ideas freely. This allows me to read, think, and absorb without feeling the need to sign up for any particular fold. In that spirit, I’ve been thinking about a new pottery collection—the Beatitude Collection. It’s an idea I’d love to explore, but also one I’d be happy to see other makers take up in their own way.
The concept is simple: integrating the Beatitudes into functional pottery. These words, found in Matthew 5:3-10, are more than just text—they are seeds of action, calling for humility, mercy, righteousness, and peace. I imagine running these lines around the rims of bowls, mixing dishes, mugs, and other functional pieces, creating subtle reminders for those who use them daily. In a world filled with noise, distractions, and division, the Beatitudes stand as a quiet yet profound guide—one that seems to remain too often trapped in leather-bound books rather than lived out in the real world.
The Beatitudes as Seeds of Action
Like trees, the best time to plant the Beatitudes was yesterday—the second-best time is today. These verses are not just comforting words but a challenge, an invitation to embody the qualities they promote. The difficulty isn’t in reading them; it’s in living them. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy” is one that resonates with me deeply. It calls for action, for generosity of spirit in a world that often rewards the opposite.
In today’s culture of quick reactions, groupthink, and ideological divides, it can be difficult for such seeds to take root. Attention spans are short, and the noise is constant. But perhaps seeing these words daily—pressed into clay, wrapped around the rim of a bowl, or etched into a mug—might serve as a quiet counterbalance to the distractions. Pottery, after all, has always been more than just utility; it’s been a vessel for meaning, storytelling, and connection.
An Open Invitation to Makers
If you’re a maker, feel free to take this idea and run with it in your own way. The beauty of handmade work is that no two interpretations will ever be the same. Whether it’s carving, stamping, or painting, integrating these words into daily-use objects could create moments of reflection in ways that go beyond traditional forms of art or scripture. The goal isn’t mass production but thoughtful, intentional reminders of values that, if nurtured, could make life better for us all.
What is your favorite Beatitude? Which one would you start with? For me, mercy seems like a good place to begin—not just in theory, but in practice. And as always, the easy part is reading; the hard part is making and doing.
If I were living today a second time, I would have:
Wrote this sooner. It’s really late! I need to make work for the spring show!
Things I am grateful for:
My job at the paper factory. I learned new things today.
If I get to live to be 86, I only have:
13145 days left.
I did not have a religious upbringing and in adulthood have mostly ran a mile from anything religious. But the values you speak of are above any religious creed.
Kindness, compassion, gratitude, grace... I do try to live by them and to pass them on to my daughter.
I had never thought of trying to incorporate them in my pots. This is very interesting. Invitation accepted :)
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Edit a few minutes later... I actually googled Beatitudes and these refer to different values from the ones I mention above. Still, thank you for the prompt :)
I agree that the beatitude of mercy resonates for this time, in this place. I often think of grace in the space of mercy, though the difference is subtle.