Prayer Bottles
I first started making the "prayer bottles" in September 2007 and am planning to make a collection of 1000 - as they are sold (with 10% donated to Tear Fund) they will be replaced with new ones. There is an ancient tradition of "tear bottles" which friends told me about as I started to make my bottles - they were usually shaped like a tear and carried by the owner on his journey. The idea for these prayer bottles developed as I was thinking about a box in our church into which prayer requests can be posted - they are only read and prayed for by the Rector. What sort of vessel could contain our prayers that no one else but God hears? It would hold our tears of sorrow, jow, our shouts of pain, grief; our questions and our thanksgivings. The idea for the shape for the containers came from Psalm 56:8 (NKJV) "You number my wanderings; put my tears into Your bottle; are they not in your book?". Each bottle I "throw" (on an electric wheel) has to be unique reflecting the uniqueness of our prayers, carefully made to remind us of the infinite care with which God listens to us, burnished smooth by His hands and held lovingly by Him, the "firing" then leaves its marks on each bottle - individual and permanent. The size of our fist is the size of our heart so I decided to make the bottles in a variety of sizes - the largest made from the size of a fist of a large adult down to the tiny one of a baby. I use various clays of different colours and textures. The heavily "grogged" clay was almost too gritty to throw, resulting in very simple shapes - like wordless prayers.
The prayer bottles were created to be held giving form to the sounds of our hearts |
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Part of the prayer bottles display for the "Doors" retreat day - May 2008. Over 400 bottles were exhibited in the Neville Chapel providing a quiet place for visitors who wanted to pray and meditate.
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