All Our Deeds Are Potter's Clay

 Every Deed

Every deed both cruel and kind
Falls on fertile ground and
Finds a mate to spawn again
'Til kings of kings are crowned

Tempt this does to measure worth
Of praise or scarlet letter
Tally thorn and vine since birth
And sum the deeds together

But all our deeds are potter's clay -
At last if not at first
And none can take our worth away
​Or nullify our worst

---

I wrote "Every Deed" as comfort for someone dear to me who was agonizing over harm done because it could not be undone and because the initial harm led to further harm over time. 

Although I wrote the poem before I became a coach, many of the principles I learned in training compliment the messages in the poem, so I have interspersed them in purple text throughout the inspiration.

Let's look at the first stanza of the poem.

Every deed both cruel and kind
Falls on fertile ground and
Finds a mate to spawn again
'Til kings of kings are crowned

It is true that harm done to one person causes harm to others over time.

"Hurt people hurt," a friend of mine said, and I agree. Intentionally or unintentionally, knowingly or unknowingly, wounded people wound people.

A perfect example is the passing on of emotional wounds from parent to child from generation to generation.

If you are distressed about the proliferation of harm from something you did, take heart - it works the other way too.

Love also propagates! Kindness inspires kindness, takes root in the heart and proliferates through our six degrees of separation.

Consider the far reaching and long term impact of words of encouragement. How many people we think of as heroes attribute their courage to act to words of encouragement from a parent, a friend, a coach, a stranger? 

Everything we do is out there - cruelty, kindness, and everything in between.

Life is fertile ground and we all have "green fingers."
​The second stanza is about the natural tendency to judge ourselves and others.

Tempt this does to measure worth
Of praise or scarlet letter -

It is human nature to judge - to take the measure of worth.

Typically people think of judgment solely in terms of labels such as shameful or worthless.

If this is your perception, I invite you to broaden your idea of judgment to include any measure of worth, which includes assessments such as praiseworthy and impeccable.

And now a little diversion to explain the meaning of "scarlet letter."

The picture above is a painting by Hugues, Merle, which depicts Hester Prynne and her daughter, Pearl, characters in Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel "The Scarlet Letter."

I will give you the briefest of summaries here and encourage you to read more in this Wikipedia article. or better still, read the novel.

Hester Prynne, is a young woman who has given birth to a baby fathered by a man other than her husband. She is required to wear a scarlet "A" on her dress when she is in front of the townspeople to shame her. The letter "A" stands for adulteress. Her sentence required her to stand on the scaffold for three hours, exposed to public humiliation, and to wear the scarlet "A" for the rest of her life.

The scarlet letter in my poem is a reference to the judgment of shame symbolized by Hester's scarlet letter. However it is not specific to adultery or any other act, but is symbolic of judgment that a person is worthy of shame.

Consider these questions as food for thought on this subject:

Have you ever wondered if you are a good person?

Have you ever wondered if you've lived a good life?

If you haven't, take some time to do it now.

How did you approach this question?

Did you look for the answer by "adding up" the harm and good you've done, and compare the total of one to the other?

This is "adding up" what I describe in the second part of the stanza.

Tally thorn and vine since birth
And sum the deeds together

Maybe, instead you weighed each deed in your mind as to it's effect on your worth.

Is one deed so impactful that it nullifies the effects of all others?

Consider the words of the last stanza.

But all our deeds are potter's clay -
At last if not at first
And none can take our worth away
Or nullify our worst

We each have a higher coach. 

You may have another name such as higher power, God, spirit, universe, or something else.

The concept is the same - the all-knowing, unlimited source of our existence. 

For me, the source is God, so that is the name I will use.

I think of God as a potter and all our deeds as potter's clay.

A potter has unlimited creative ability with clay. The effects of even the most heinous deeds are malleable.

Harm can become healing. Healing can become growth. Growth can become inspiration.

Cruelty can become remorse. Remorse can become compassion. Compassion can become kindness.

Some transformations happen quickly, some take a years, and some take lifetime, which is what I mean by at last if not at first.

What do I mean by and none can take our worth away?

I mean that neither deeds or their effects can take our worth away.

In fact nothing we do raises or lowers our worth because worth is intrinsic to our being, not our doing.

Each one of us is a perfect, unique energy force.

We have infinite worth because we are created from the infinite worth of source.

Our level of true awareness is related to our lack of judging.

I want to clarify that I am speaking about judgment of a person's worth as opposed to judgment of their actions.

True awareness of our worth is related to conscious recognition that human worth is intrinsic and infinite.

To judge our worth is to restrict our perception of it to something that can be measured and changed.

It is impossible to hold both views.

Finally, what do I mean by or nullify our worst?

I am referring to the "adding up" of harm or good done and the belief that impact of one deed negates the impact of others. 

As I said in the beginning, it's all out there - everything we've done - irretrievable and indelible, but that's ok because

All our deeds are potter's clay -
At last if not at first

As always, I love to hear your thoughts!

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