Kintsukuroi — To Repair With Gold
Kintsukuroi (keen-tsoo-koo-ray) was introduced to me by a friend a few weeks ago. I was so inspired by this Japanese art form of restoring broken pottery and ceramic objects with special lacquer fused with gold, silver or platinum. So, technically, Kintsukuroi is the art of embracing broken and flawed things.
Where Kintsukuroi came from? Old sources say, in the late 15th century Japanese sent a broken Chinese tea bowl to China for repairs and the end-product he got had metal staples. It looked so ugly that Japanese craftsmen looked around for something more artistic and beautiful. Their curiosity and enthusiasm marked the birth of Kintsukuroi, the art of repairing broken pottery. It’s said they were so pleased with the art that they deliberately smashed expensive pottery so that it could be mended with seams of gold. Strange but its true!! Today, the Japanese craftsmen do not toss the broken pieces in the trash (like us!) but bring them together to get a product with an enhanced aesthetic appeal and artistic value.
Unlike you and me, Kintsukuroi “finds beauty in broken and flawed things.” While we Westerners consider broken objects as value and money down the drain, Kintsukuroi artists place their trust in marketing that comes from brokenness to restoration.
By now you know where I’m going with this post. Like this broken pot, we, too have been broken, rejected, misused, set aside, thrown out as damaged goods. We may have thought, “No one would ever want me.” But, with the concept of Kintsukuroi, things that we think should be thrown in the trash, are in reality, a precious treasure that needs just a little TLC — tender loving care. Here’s the really, really good news. If we will turn ourselves over to the Master Potter, God, Himself, He will heal our brokenness, fill in the cracks, the lines and breaks in our lives with His unconditional love and mercy which is even more precious than gold. The scars that came from the hurts and pains of our life’s experiences, will be made beautiful as we place ourselves in the Master Potter’s Hands — even more beautiful than we were before. And, even beyond the beauty of the NEW you and me, is allowing others to be healed because we were able to turn our scars into stars, our tests became our testimony, our messes became our message to a world that needs these touches of GOLD so much.
“But now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.” Isaiah 64:8