In some cultures, a gift of tea is a sacramental act ....
Simply by drinking tea with another person in their home, a person is transformed from stranger, to friend, to even family-member. In other cultures, a gift of good quality tea is a sacred act of humility, generosity, and peace-making. In this sense, then, the containers wherein dried tea leaves are stored can become vessels of special importance.
If you were to create a container for holding something so valuable that it could become the context for reconciling enemies to become friends, transforming strangers to become members of another’s family, or simply helping a person find rest and renewal in order to continue their challenging service of ministry, what care would you take with such a vessel as this, to ensure its contents would remain fresh and potent?
Creating such vessels is a reminder of how each human life is also a vessel, holding the potential for empowering similar sacred purposes of reconciliation and transformation within the human family. What kind of vessel would you create?