Seventh on my Bucket List: The VESSEL

What is a BUCKET LIST?

Well, it means one thing to everyone in the world, and if you have been reading these posts since I started addressing the theme last weekend, you know it means something else to me. 

I think it means... 

a list of buckets. 

With the help of thesaurus.com, I came up with a literal bucket list and now I have gone off the deep end waxing philosophical about each type of container, somehow relating it to our human condition. This is the list of containers I have empathized with this week: the brazier, the can, the cask, the hod, the pail, and most recently, the Vat. I suggest you go back and read those in order, to get the most out of this series.  Today's bucket reference comes directly from the Bible, and is my very favorite 'bucket'; 

The VESSEL.

A vessel is a bucket.  You probably predicted I would say that, but it is true nonetheless.  I have always had a thing for vessels.  Tupperware containers, empty check boxes, large yogurt containers all cleaned up and ready to be put back to work; even larger prescription capsules can be used to stow and stash stuff in an organized way.  Big bags and bulky boxes are then of course indispensable....for storing all of those other containers away so they don't overtake the basement!

Am I really such a neatnik?  Or am I trying to act out some control issues in my life?  Perhaps I am desperately trying to organize my outward life to somehow appease my inner turmoil.  Yipes!  Maybe  I should stop giving out ideas and get on with this subject!  

In the case of THE VESSEL, the container itself is far less important than what it carries.  We people are the walking vessels, but walking ever carefully because we are made, more literally than figuratively,  of clay.  Dirt.  Dust.  Earth.  Trying to live independently, we are dry and empty inside; ending up fragile and foolish, temperamental and tempestuous, callous and corrupt.  Without simply receiving the precious good that fills cracks, creates stability, and brings new life, we will fall apart.   What is this good that mends all breaks?  It is the light of God Himself.

 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.

 ⁷ But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.  2 Cor 4:7 

If you watch this video, don't necessarily watch, but do listen.    The words are also included below.

EARTHEN VESSELS by John Foley
Based on 2 Corinthian 4: 6-7
1 Corinthian 1: 27-29

We hold a treasure, not made of gold,
In earthen vessels, wealth untold,
One treasure only: the Lord, the Christ,
In earthen vessels.

1...Light has shone in our darkness:
God has shown in our heart,
With the light of the glory
of Jesus, the Lord.

2... He has chosen the lowly,
who are small in this world;
In his weakness is glory,
in Jesus the Lord.

Sixth on my Bucket List: The VAT

 What is a BUCKET LIST?

Well, it means one thing to everyone in the world, and maybe something else to me. I think it means a list of buckets. So with the help of thesaurus.com, I came up with a literal bucket list and now I am trying to wax philosophical about each type of container, somehow relating it to our human condition. This is the list of containers I have empathized with this week:  the brazier, the can, the cask, the hod and the pail   Today's reading about The VAT might make more sense if you click on,  and read those, first.  The last discussion will be about my favorite 'bucket'; The VESSEL.

Ah, the vat!  A vat is a bucket.  It's more like a vat, but let's just say it's a bucket shall we?  I'm thinking that a vat could even be a hole in the ground, as in 'a vat of quicksand'.  But let us say that a vat is any giant unwieldy  form of a container that you might dump a great big load of wild ingredients into, and then slowly stir (not mix!) with a large spoon (no, not a spoon; that would turn the vat into a cauldron and that's not on my list) stick (yeah, a stick!  You always stir what's in a vat with a stick for some reason).  Clear?

Didn't think so.  But what goes into the vat of life?  I'm thinking icky.  Let's say you are standing between a cask and a vat.  Life starts handing you stuff (no, not lemons) and your job is to sort each item into the proper container.  Ready, set, GO!

*Your Mom and Dad gave you a lot of love, and you save that precious commodity in the cask.  A no brainer!

*You take your sister's toys and now she hates you!  This is more complicated. Put the guilt in the vat where it will fester, the repentance in your cask so you don't forget it, dump the hate in the vat so it can be swallowed up for a while, and the forgiveness you should treasure in the cask forever. 

* Someone shows you porn and you get hooked!  Certainly the porn has to go in the vat, but it's not that simple.  Do it now, or the vat will overflow when you can finally toss off (and into the vat) the growing tally of addiction, lust, deceit, waste, lies, vain imaginings and the loss of years.  Is there anything for the cask?  If the rest does go in the vat, then there is overcoming, victory, purity and a newfound understanding that a person is so much more than a body.  These are treasures that one might have gained without adding so much to the vat, but, too late now.

*Your spouse challenges your character every day.  Your love for your spouse, and from your spouse, will only grow as it is cherished in a good cask.  Your selfishness needs to be dumped in the vat along with the laziness, the unfair fighting, the failed investments and the burned meals.  The gift of growing patience, along with humility and sacrifice, will grow and prosper in your cask.

You get the idea.  Some of the stuff of life is vile and base, and should only be rid of, while some is rich in value and must be honored and carefully kept.  By the way; the stick of circumstances is always running through the vat and stirring up trouble.  It always brings the most relevant of the worst sin and temptation right to the top at just the wrong time!

picture from nebraskaharvestore.com

But what can be done about that heaping vat full of sin and guilt and shameful memories? The answer is two-fold, with the first step found here:

If we confess our sins he is faithful and just and will forgive us and purify us from all unrighteousness.    1 John 1:9

The stuff in the vat which is of our own making (probably 90%); our sin, our responses to our own sin, our defending our sin, our justifying our sin, our blaming others for our sin etc., can all be 'purified' when we simply confess it. We are not informing God about what is in our vat when we confess, but we are simply looking in as He points, and agreeing with Him (always a good idea!). Just as a 'confession of faith' is not some kind of guilty admission, but is a statement of agreement. So when we agree with God about what's in the vat, or what should be in the vat, He is 'faithful and just' and then, He drains the vat!  At least of each wrong we recognize and acknowledge as sin.

The second step, now that we are forgiven, is to forgive all those offenses we have been dealt and which might be clinging to the walls of the vat like so much cooked on gristle.

       Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you  

             has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

                                                                           Colossians 3:13

And with these simple steps of confession and forgiveness, we are fit for living in God's presence forever!  But to rephrase 1 John 1:9 above; if we do not confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will not forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  Why should He?  To cling to our sin is not just negating the cask and all of its good wares, but declaring we prefer to live in the vat itself.

[For more on why pornography, and other crap, should be thrown in the vat sooner rather than later, check out this article I wrote last year.]

Fifth on my Bucket List: The PAIL

What is a BUCKET LIST?
Well, it means one thing to everyone in the world, and maybe something else to me. I think it means a list of buckets. So with the help of thesaurus.com, I came up with a literal bucket list and now I am trying to wax philosophical about each type of container, somehow relating it to our human condition. This is the list of containers I will be trying to empathize with this week: brazier, can, cask, hod, pail, vat, and vessel. So far I have delved into the brazier, the can, the cask, and the hod.   Today's reading about THE PAIL might make more sense if you click on those and read them first.

sunshinegrains.com

A pail is a bucket.  (What could be more obvious?)  A pail is used just the same as a bucket, except that it pales in comparison.  (Here is where you might groan dramatically, if you haven't already.)

The every day demands of life require that we do some mundane, basic activities just to survive, but we commit ourselves way beyond the essentials.  We try to spruce up our simple need for sustenance with special recipes, or 'gourmet' meals, or by eating 'out'; and we spend undo effort decorating our bodies in the latest fashions (well, maybe you do), when all we really need is protection from the elements and from undo attention.  Shelter must simply keep the rain off our heads and contain enough heat to maintain a certain temperature, but we dwell on square footage and cabinet space, wall texture and lawn care.  

In the end, we humans are all alike.  We should be able to carry everything we need in a pail, but if our riches let it overflow we would rather rent a storage locker than share with those whose pail is leaking.  

Those who give to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to them receive many curses.                                Proverbs 28:27

  

Fourth on my Bucket List: The HOD

BUCKET LIST means different things to different people. Well, it means one thing to everyone in the world, and maybe something else to me. I think it means a list of buckets. So with the help of thesaurus.com, I came up with a literal bucket list and now I am trying to wax philosophical about each type of container, somehow relating it to our human condition. This is the list of containers I will be trying to empathize with this week: brazier, can, cask, hod, pail, vat, or vessel. So far I have delved into the brazier, the can and the cask.   Today's reading about THE HOD might make more sense if you click on those and read them first.

Have you ever heard of a hod?  If you have, how of a hod had you heard?  Ok, that's enough of that.  A hod is a bucket.  If a bucket is anything that contains something.  In this case a hod is  like an open box with the top, one side and one end removed.  A long pole attached to the underside where two sides meet allows the box to be carried over the shoulder.  Masons, or mason's helpers in particular, use a hod to carry either bricks or mortar from the base of a new brick wall project over, up, and across to wherever the masons are currently laying bricks.

If a hod is a tool that facilitates a mason's work, what is the 'hod' you depend on to do your job?  Today was a crazy mixed up day for me, and with this more general connotation applied,

you might say that I used several different hods.  This morning I was sanding the newly dried joint compound upstairs with a sanding pole.  Later I was brushing and rolling paint at a job, where I relied on my finesse and practiced technique.  (That sounds impressive eh?)  And then I ended up the afternoon hauling firewood!  My hod in the woods consisted of my arms, my back (ugh!) and my dwindling stamina.  Finally this evening my hods of duty and devotion came out of the tool box when I had to go shopping, make dinner, and run to the pharmacy!

So if there is a base tool for any activity, we'll call it a hod.  But I propose that there are really only a couple of basic elements we use in our work, and I ask;  is your hod your brain, or your brawn?  Perhaps most careers require an element of both.  I know at my age, that my brawn is tuckered out and ready for the old brain to take a good long turn.  

One thing I know for sure.  If every important task is associated with its relevant 'hod', our very life, our living body with attached soul and spirit, can be seen as the ultimate hod--a mere tool meant to facilitate a real goal.  Our duty then is to determine to what great end, we will direct our great lives.

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”                                           Mark 10:45

Third on my Bucket List: The CASK

Not being able to decide which meaning of BUCKET LIST was intended as this week's blogging theme, I have decided to combine the two possible meanings of the phrase.  I have produced a list of buckets (aided by the synonym experts at thesaurus.com), and now I will try to imagine what each 'bucket' would do with the rest of its life.  Here is the list of containers I will be trying to empathize with this week: brazier, can, cask, hod, pail, vat, or vessel.  So far I have talked about the brazier and the can.  You might like this article better if you click on those and read them first.


A cask is a bucket.  At least in the general sense that it is used to contain stuff.  In my mind a cask is like a small barrel, which is kind of like two buckets joined together at the wider end, and with the liquid contents accessible by spout. In the movies we've seen casks of fresh water stored in the hulls of old wooden ships and they were always getting contaminated by seawater during the big storm.  And when land was finally reached, the sailors broke open the casks of rum or beer, which, somehow, were never contaminated by anything!  (If I was the ship's carpenter, or the cooper, I would have been doing a lot of yelling; "Why don't you mugs ever use the spout?  Now I have to fix another cask that you just had to "break into"!  Do you think I have nothing better to do than to go around fixing  casks all day?" And then they'd all say they were sorry and I'd get over it until the next time.)


What comes to mind when you think of a cask?  How about that famous Edgar Allan Poe story about the wine cellar?  The Cask of Amantillado!  I had to look it up, but the key word, cask, made that an easy search.  It was a cask of wine that the 'hero' of the story used as bait to get his revenge on the inaptly named, Fortunato.


Fortunato would have killed for even a broken cask full of water when he found himself chained to a wall, in the back of a wine cellar niche, and in the dark behind a newly laid wall of stone.  


A cask, it seems, is always responsible for providing some essential goods to the table of man.  A barrel is always full of either pickles or crackers and we can all live well enough without those on the menu, but in some countries in the past, wine was the only safe thing to drink.  Fresh water on a ship at sea, of course, is vital for all.


So if a regular old bucket can be used to haul stones to the wall project, slop to the pigs, potatoes from the garden, and soapy water to the floors upstairs, what important product is your cask held in reserve to protect?


God has given us many lists in the Bible.  There are blessings and curses, plagues, commandments, sins, beatitudes, gifts of the Spirit, fruits of the Spirit, faithful saints, tribulations, and ultimate blessings, to name just a few.  But there is a short list of the top three things that God probably keeps in casks, for they will abide forever.


My list of important life factors might be boiled down from the specifics to the more general and include things like health, family well-being, civil freedoms, prosperity, bucket-list plans etc., but God seems to have boiled these down even further to the very very basic and most vital of all: 




And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.                                                                  1 Corinthians 13:13


May we treasure these in our very best cask; the heart of hearts.

Second on My Bucket List: The CAN

Not being able to decide which meaning of BUCKET LIST was intended as this week's blogging theme, I have decided to combine the two possible meanings of the phrase.  I have produced a list of buckets (aided by the synonym experts at thesaurus.com), and now I will try to imagine what each 'bucket' would do with the rest of its life.  Here is the list of containers I will be trying to empathize with this week: brazier, can, cask, hod, pail, vat, or vessel.  





The CAN


If I ever do have to be a can, I sure hope it's not the can my Mom found me with in the back yard of our house on 59th St when I was 7 or 8 years old.  I was hard at work with a bunch of her steak knives and other needy cutlery.  It seemed that when she said to me "WHAT are you doing?", it was more than a simple query.  And when I told her that repeatedly stabbing this tin can would sharpen her knives, she seemed somehow doubtful.  No.  I would not like to be that can (or that boy, for that matter).


As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.  Proverbs 27:17




Have you ever been canned?  Once, I was fired.  Repeated car trouble lead to repeated tardiness at one job and when the boss showed up before I did, he lost it.  He told my foreman (his brother-in-law) to fire me when I got there, and then he left.
Poor Joe eventually got around to half heartedly informing me that John told him to fire me.  I think it hurt him more than it hurt me.  Less than a week later John was begging me to come back, but by then I was my own sub-contractor and he had to pay me a lot more!  Good old car trouble!


And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.                     Romans 8:28




Were you ever canned?  I'm picturing a paint can.  A bunch of harsh chemicals are dumped in the steel can and a steel cover is laid on top and beaten into place with a mallet until only a special tool and a lot of repeated effort will get it off.  Those parents who stash and store their kids like this were probably treated the same way.  They come to think that simply containing the elements of youth; the curiosity, the experimentation, the angst--is enough. Little thought is given to what ingredients were tossed into the can, and even less is realized about the fermentation process. 



If some are contained by, and sealed in abuse there will be a rotting; when some are ignored and uncared for, there comes a spoilage; or when some are treated without justice and kindness, a debilitating discouragement will build and will last.

Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.                               Ephesians 6:4

Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.                                
                                                                               Colossians 3:21

Or were you canned?  Some kids are pruned and picked and processed with loving care. They are given everything they truly need and protected from harmful contaminants all along the way. While trusting teenagers wait securely under a tight seal the rightly blended ingredients are melding and coalescing to form a fine product, until one day the lid is removed.  Now the young adult enters life with maturity, wisdom and good humor, and is received everywhere with gladness.  A new spouse, even the world at large, is delighted again and again as the well prepared and preserved contents of that jar are served up and shared.  The fruit of this process is a long fulfilled bucket list of accomplishments that bless all of society.


Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: 
                                                  Proverbs 31:28




No matter how we were 'processed' or 'canned' or 'labeled' by our families or by our own choices, our God loves and cares for us like no other.  He takes us as we are when we acknowledge Him and can remake whatever is wrong.  


Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!                                            2 Corinthians 5:17