Fr. Theophan: ‘High Expectations’

By Fr. Theophan Mackey
Rector
Saint Job of Pochaiv Orthodox Church

Another month has come to an end.

How can January take so long, and February pass in the blink of an eye?

I’m starting another round of pottery classes at the Arts Council. Tile and mold making on Tuesdays and throwing on Thursdays. I’ll have to take a break in April for Holy Week and all that surrounds the events of Pascha, but it is so much fun to teach new students.

When we start, I let them know that I have been throwing pottery on and off for over thirty years. The basics of centering the clay and pulling walls are astonishing to beginners, but they are second nature after thirty years. I assure them, if they stick with it, it will be second nature to them as well.

I also let them know that there are many potters who are much more advanced than I. It’s always good to know that you don’t know everything.

It’s getting close to six months that I have been teaching at the Arts Council and I’ve noticed something I didn’t really expect.

I’ve gotten better.

“Nice. Really humble, Father T.” you might say.

No, really. It’s not that I thought for a second that there wasn’t more to learn. It is that I wasn’t trying to learn, necessarily.

It is the same with so much. We like to feel comfortable in our knowledge and opinions. Like we have a pretty good grasp on reality: political climate, philosophical concepts, scientific advancements, healthy eating, technology, etc.

But do we really? Have we really done our research, or have we read the first couple of entries that Google brings up, or, God forbid, just read the AI summary at the top?

Try to teach it. Try to explain it to a neophyte. Concepts that we tend to gloss over in our extensive experience need to be enumerated. Axioms and preconceptions need to be clarified.

It is even more true in what we consider our specialties.

For me, the basics of Orthodox faith are the same. Inquirers at the church point out my blind-spots on a pretty regular basis.

I have explained the six steps in basic throwing a hundred times in the past half-year. Over and over again I have recentered off-center pots, brought flopped pots back from the brink, and put floors back in pots that have none. Students each learn differently, and so I am constantly trying to find new ways to explain. Some learn best through diagrams, others through explanations, demonstrations, analogies, physical practice, or a diverse combination of all of the above.

But, I have learned, without trying, by teaching. All of this has forced my mind and abilities into different situations.

May it always be so. There is always more to learn.

But what is becoming more clear, accompanied by an ever-increasing sense of dread, is that I will probably be teaching kids pottery this summer.

Pray for me.