A water bearer in India had two large pots hanging from the ends of a stick which he wore over his shoulders. One of the vessels had several cracks, while the other was perfect and kept all the water at the end of long walk from the stream to the house of his employer.

When he arrived, the broken vessel contained only half the water. For two whole years this happened daily. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect as it was known for the purposes for which it was created. But the poor cracked pot was very ashamed of its own imperfection and miserable because he could only do half of what was supposed to be his duty.

 After two years, the broken jar waterboy spoke to saying, “I’m ashamed and I want to apologize to you, because due to my cracks can deliver only half my load and you only get half the value that you should receive.”

The waterboy, sorry, he said sympathetically: “When I return to the home you notice the beautiful flowers that grow along the way.”

So he did the jar. And indeed, he saw many flowers all along. But anyway he was sorry because, ultimately, all that remained within him, half the water that should go.

The water carrier said to him: “Did you notice that the flowers only grow on your side of the road? I’ve always known of your cracks and wanted to take the side
positive about it. I planted flower seeds all along the way by which you and every day the’ve watered. For two years I have been able to collect these flowers to decorate the altar of my Master. If you were not exactly as you are, with all your flaws, it was not possible to create this beauty.

Each of us has its own cracks. We’re all cracked pots, but we know that there is always the possibility of exploiting the cracks to get good results. Is that in the great economy of God, nothing is wasted.