Empty Bowls- a Way to bless your Neighborhood

Two hundred bowls, handmade by the community

 surrounding Melinda Reidy’s home and pottery studio. 

Two hundred bowls, carefully molded, fired, and glazed,

 wrapped in newspapers and packed into boxes

 for the trip just down the road to 

Prince of Peace Lutheran Church

 in Springfield, Virginia.

It’s overwhelming, really, 

seeing stacks and stacks of boxes,

 and thinking of the many hands and hearts

 that went into creating the pottery within. 

All for an Empty Bowls fundraiser, 

to raise money for our local food pantry

 and social service agency, ECHO

Melinda has been welcoming neighbors and friends

 and church members into her pottery studio

 for nearly 10 months, 

teaching people from 4 to 85 years old

 how to form red-brown clay into bowls 

of all shapes and sizes. 

How to make beauty out of dust.

All of those bowls, wrapped in newspaper,

 look the same. 

Just a box, just a dish wrapped in paper. 

Until we start unwrapping. 

“Oh! Look at THIS one!” Melinda exclaims. 

She carefully places the treasure on the table, 

then reaches for the next anonymous package.

 “Oh! Look at THIS one!” 

Each bowl, 

shaped and colored and designed differently. 

Each bowl, wholly itself, 

cannot be mistaken for another.

“Isn’t that how God works?” says Melinda. 

Yes, indeed. 

We can think of the parade of people 

entering and exiting her pottery studio—

or entering and exiting our churches, 

our food pantries, our homes, our lives—as just groups,

 just numbers, just bowls wrapped in newspaper. 

One looks very much like another, 

stacked together in boxes, 

touching but not really touching, 

covered in protective wrapping. 

We can cover ourselves in our own protective wrapping—

the pleasant mask we show the world, 

the carefully styled hair, the neutral smile. 

We can choose to protect our real selves, 

to cultivate shallow relationships,

 to “never let them see you sweat.” 

Or we can shed that layer of protection 

and let our full, unique beauty shine.

For God does not stamp out people like factory-made bowls,

 every one alike. God molds us from the dust. 

God designs our minds, our bodies, our families, just so. 

Each dip of glaze, each brushstroke, each moment in the fire,

 all designed so that we come out shining, 

beautiful, ready to serve. 

“Oh! Look at THIS one!” 

God delights in us, in each one of us. 

Not only that, but He delights

 in the beauty of all of us together, 

of individuals sharing their 

hearts and hands and passions

 with each other, and in so doing, 

sharing the work of the kingdom. 

And in God’s kingdom, 

every person is fearfully and wonderfully made, 

and every empty bowl gets filled to the brim.  

Lifting up Visionary Idea leaders-

for iNeighborhood,

 Melinda and Michael Reidy.

 They were willing to tackle a BIG Project

 that brought a great blessing.

So it was a neighborhood affair when neighbors

 met for the Empty Bowls event 

on April 22, 2018 at Prince of Peace. 

Friendships were made from 

all walks of life while beautiful,

 hand crafted bowls were selected and tasty treats

 were served by neighborhood restaurants.
* $15,019 & 187 canned goods donated to ECHO!
We especially thank:
* the 70+ neighbor volunteers who made the bowls
* the 30+ POP volunteers who helped to set up,

 tear down, serve, and pick up food.
* Afghan Kabob, Trader Joes, Milano’s, Malek’s, Panera Bread, 

Hannah’s Catering and Arepas Bees 

for their food donations!
We thank God for the way He moved all 

of us to accomplish 

something bigger than ourselves for others
and the betterment of His kingdom.

Thank you to Jennifer Gross-
contributing writer for Journeys of Faith.