Kintsugi (金継ぎ?, きんつぎ, “golden joinery”), also known as Kintsukuroi (金繕い?, きんつくろい, “golden repair”),[1] is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum, a method similar to the maki-e technique.[2][3][4] As a philosophy, it treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise – Wikipedia
Apparently this art form became so popular with collectors that some were suspected of purposefully breaking their precious porcelain or pottery to be repaired by kintsukuroi!
After the restoration of our broken marriage many years ago, I used to say that God had not simply glued the pieces together – He had actually made something new, something even more beautiful than the original. In a way, this is true, but when I stumbled upon information about this Japanese artform, I realised that He actually repairs a broken life by glueing the pieces together with the finest quality lacquer of his grace, mixed with the precious gold of his Son’s blood. The result is a fragile and precious vessel, fit for use – a lifelong testimony of the wisdom and skill of a heavenly artisan.
The result is still a fragile porcelain vessel, but it shines with a new beauty, the golden lines of God’s grace that visibly reminds us of his powerful love. Paul adds to this that the real worth of this fragile vessel actually lies in the precious contents with which God fills it: “the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” (2 Corinthians 4, New International Version)
I once read about an American pastor whose child had drowned. The heartbroken couple moved to a different state just to get away from the sad memories. At their new church, though, someone picked up on their past trauma and asked them to please comfort a couple whose child had just died in a swimming accident. The pastor then found that, when God heals the wounds, He doesn’t remove the scars – He actually uses our scars to show others that healing is possible.
If “by his wounds you have been healed” – then I can know that, to the extent that I allow God to use my scars, I become more Christ-like, which is the ultimate goal of a Christian’s life. (Romans 8:29)
Wounds that have been touched by the heavenly physician, does not leave unsightly scars, but scars are gentle reminders of the power of his love. He is the God, “who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” (2 Corithians 1:4, NIV)