It is possible to get so close to something that you lose all sense of perspective and a small thing gets right out of proportion.
At first glance this urn looks huge!
Against a winter's sky is stands out like some gigantic garden ornament just waiting to be planted up with an agapanthus whose blue funnel shaped flowers would match the urn perfectly. It could be a feature at the end of a long vista ... but let's stop dreaming ... this is a household item, a vase, vase, vase.
Again, without any scale reference point it is still difficult to judge the size ... and a close up of some of the decoration doesn't help one little bit!
As a clue to dimensions it might help to know that it is a Wedgewood jasperware urn. The term "jasper" coming from the way that this unglazed porcelain resembles the stone jasper. The white neoclassical decorations are made in a separate mould and then applied to the pieces - a technique that Josiah Wedgewood developed in the eighteenth century.
So, back to this little piece of Wedgewood that I've had for almost fifty years. It is hard to believe that it has been with me for so long ... !
How big ... or perhaps more accurately ... how small is it?
About half the size of my hand!
Certainly not big enough for an agapanthus!
Maybe when problems loom large and take on gigantic proportions ... we need to step back a wee bit ... and see things that happen in context. The big context is the light of eternity ... but even if we simply ask ... will this matter five years from now? That can help us to regain a proper perspective.
The post-communion prayer for today ...
Refreshed by these holy gifts,Lord God,
we seek your mercy:
that by listening faithfully to your only Son,
and being obedient to the prompting of the Spirit,
we may be your children in name and in truth;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Book of Common Prayer.
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