Wonderfully Made

We are the clay and You are our potter, And we are the work of your hand."
-Isaiah 64:8
( The Holy Bible)


I was reading the first few pages of the bible and it always fascinates me to find these parts:

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth

And God saw everything that He has made, and indeed it was very good.

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
- excerpts from The New King James Version Bible , Genesis 1 and 2, italics included

appreciating God's creation ,the Twin Lagoon, Calamianes Group of Islands, Philippines, photo by Nancy

I am fully convinced that the world where we are in- is created in seven days. I am not a bible expert, but after reading all other theories related to “creation” I thought that this is the most believable. The Creator must be very powerful to be able to create heavens and earth by simply saying so. What really makes me feel exceptionally special is that- considering the vast mountains, oceans, lakes, valleys and plains, living creatures, the Creator took time to “mold us in his own image.” Probably this is where sculpture started.

pots and me, wonderfully made, photo by Maria Elena

Although I enjoyed watching my own kid sisters forming something out of clay, with the glee in their eyes if they were able to create anything "beautiful", I never got the interest to participate. The mere sight of wet clay and the tedious task of creating something, not to mention having my hands dirty in the process have disinterested me to work with clay.

potter teaches me to do the "pinch" in Vigan(Philippines) pottery , photo by Maria Elena

My childhood was mostly spent reading books and listening to music while my siblings played under the sunny skies with lots of sports and activities, playing with clay included. I preferred talking to a lot of people to ask a lot of things. Simply listening to various stories have fascinated me. As a child I wondered why different people have varying stories and interests even if they live in the same house, village, or speak the same dialect or language. My mom has given a very realistic explanation on why people differ from each other. She simply told me to look at my palm and observe how one finger differs from the other. That’s how I differ with my brothers and sisters she would point out, and the same goes to different people out there that I know, barely know or probably total strangers to me.

an almost finished pottery in Vigan City, Philippines

As to playing or working with clay which I never experienced as a child, I had the chance to catch up, nevertheless. I finally got the feel of forming something from clay by pinching a vase created manually by those who are in the pottery industry(in Vigan, Ilocos Norte, Philippines, they call it “burnay”) in March of this year and in addition to a reunion with my dear friend Maria Elena, it was a momentous experience for me. The vase maker was too amused looking at how apprehensive I had been to do such “pinch”, meant to be a finishing touch to that work of art.

Vigan potter makes something out of clay

Yes, I am wonderfully made.

Of course I have flaws due to my “ human nature” yet I can still rejoice in the thought that I, we- are wonderfully made and so are the creatures of the earth, sky and waters which we were entrusted to take care of.

Now if it takes a lot of work for a God who can create something spectacular out of nothing or nowhere by just saying so(He said ”Let there be light and there was light” and so forth), then why should he form a man out of dust which taken much much effort over the rest of the “living creatures on the sea and the sky and land according to its kind?“ This is probably because man is special and so is the woman. Arguably, the concept of “equality and interdependence” between the male and female has been there right from the start of man’s creation on the sixth day but I will not dwell on that lest this blog may turn to become an online forum.

I have wanted that this blog would be a kaleidoscope of texts and photos about people, landscapes, seascapes, skyscapes which to my perspective- are wonderfully made. Appreciating everything and everyone on earth, and focusing on the happy faces of people I have met and lovely places where I have been, has always been -a wonderful experience.

Marie Antoinette Gorospe