Kintsukuroi – Golden Repair

The favorite bowl slipped from my hand and landed with a crash on the tile floor. “Oh no,” I moaned as I stared at the many pieces around my feet. What a waste, a beautiful dish; now nothing but rubbish. I grabbed the broom and swept the remains into a pile, dumping the useless pieces into the trash.

Several years after this incident I read a story about a Japanese belief, that immediately took me back to my broken bowl and the shattered pieces I had thrown away. I discovered that the Japanese have a very different take on what to do with these broken items, especially pottery. Instead of discarding them as I did, they meticulously mend the pieces back together, using silver or gold dust. In this way, they are highlighting the brokenness. They celebrate the cracks and display it with pride – it is now a piece made beautiful by its brokenness. Some people look at it as a metaphor of embracing their own flaws and imperfections. They call this practice kintsukuroi or kintsugi, meaning golden repair or golden joinery. You can check out the amazing process on YouTube.

As I went through a difficult time and my heart felt literally broken, I was so grateful that I knew about this Japanese custom. It brought me much comfort to think I might become stronger and more beautiful in my brokenness – just as the pieces of kintsugi pottery do in the hands of the artists. I could see God as the artist, meticulously putting me back together with highlights of gold and silver. I meditated on Isaiah 43:19. The Lord said – forget all that (the past) – it is nothing compared to what I’m going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?

And I did see it. There was evidence that He was doing just that. Just as he had knitted me together in my mother’s womb, He was now knitting my wounded heart back together with His golden threads of love, compassion, grace, and meaningful words. Special qualities within myself that had lain dormant surfaced and I experienced personal growth in areas that had never been tapped before.

I’m not one to buy things for myself, but when I found a kintsugi necklace in the shape of a heart, I felt an urge to purchase it. I wear it nearly every day to remind me that brokenness is – not only repairable – but capable of making one better than before.

If you’ve experienced traumatic heartache, brokenness, or devastation of any kind, I encourage you to adopt this Japanese thought process and let God work to make you better than you were. By his mighty power at work within us, He is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope. Ephesians 3:20.

Until next month – keep on readin’ and I’ll keep on writin’.