There is a centuries-old art of repairing broken pottery with gold that is believed to have originated in Japan in the late 15th century. The art technique is called Kintsugi, or Kintsukuroi and is poetically translated to “golden joinery.” Rather than rejoin the broken pottery with a camouflaged adhesive, the kintsugi technique employs a special tree sap lacquer dusted with powdered gold, silver, or platinum. Once the process is complete, one can view beautiful seams of gold glint in the conspicuous cracks of ceramic wares, giving it a one-of-a-kind appearance to each “repaired” piece. One article points out that “this unique method celebrates each artifact’s unique history by emphasizing its fractures and breaks instead of hiding or disguising them. In fact, kintsugi often makes the repaired piece even more beautiful than the original, revitalizing it with a new look and giving it a second life,” (mymodernmet.com, by Kelly Richman-Abdou).
This art form is a physical picture of the spiritual transformation that takes place in us as we surrender to God’s restoration in our lives. Isaiah 61:3 describes it this way:
…to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.
Even when the Bible was being written, inspired by the Holy Spirit, it would have been easy for God to cover over, hide or leave out some of the human weakness and broken parts of our history; but He didn’t. Instead, He chose to redeem us. His glory becomes our glory through Jesus, who has made a way for brokenness to become whole.
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed, (Isaiah 53:5, NIV).
We are His beautiful handiwork. As we live out each day on this earth we often fall short of God’s glory and his design for our lives. Life has a way of marring and hiding the beauty we carry within our soul and we need to be reminded that we are known and loved by our Heavenly Father. We see the loving work of the Trinity in our lives in this respect, as we see Holy Spirit, like an expert artisan, flowing in our lives to cut and polish our rough edges into the glorious reflection of our original design held together in the glorious setting of Jesus Christ. If only we could step back and capture the awe inspiring, wide angle view of God’s masterpiece and the glorious shine that we each individually add. For any piece to be missing would mean a vacancy that no other human being could fill because our position was created only for us. We are the only ones that get to enjoy the deeply satisfying pleasure of fulfilling our God given destiny.
Steps in Pursuit
- Identify significant times when you felt you did not measure up to the expectations of others. How did you choose to respond to the judgement or feelings of rejection? Is there a part of your true identity that was invalidated and cut out of your design?
- Philippians 4:8 gives us a great filter to place over our minds and hearts. Begin to use this verse to provide a framework for what we speak over the identities of ourselves and others.
- Be intentional to thank God for the ways He has healed brokenness and restored beauty in your life.
As we accept our true identities we can partner with the master craftsman’s work of forming our design to catch every sparkle of the son’s reflection and radiate unique kingdom glory into the world around us.
Continue the Pursuit,
Denise
