Kintsugi and The Beauty Of Imperfection In Cracked Vessels

Kintsugi is an art-form in Japan that restores cracked vessels or broken ceramics with gold, leaving the piece even more beautiful than it started out!

The word Kintsugi is Japanese for ‘golden joinery’. The idea behind it is not to hide the ugliness and brokenness but instead to use gold to make it shine; to illuminate and expose the damage. And at the end of the process the piece is even more beautiful having been broken.

How amazing that God’s artwork is like this but goes so much deeper!

Golden Joinery for His Children

A friend said she likes to think of the “gold ingredients” the Lord uses to mend us to be love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (fruits of His Spirit). 

We fear brokenness, but we shouldn’t. It’s in that place, we find God.

“God uses broken things. It takes broken soil to produce a crop, broken clouds to give rain, broken grain to give bread, broken bread to give strength. It is the broken alabaster box that gives forth perfume. It is Peter, weeping bitterly, who returns to greater power than ever.” ~Vange Havner

We are left with the scars so we can remember.

When we experience God’s deep amazing grace, we want to extend it to others —and extend forgiveness like we ourselves have been forgiven.

When we are damaged (or damage ourselves) and Christ restores us, we are even more beautiful as we reflect back His glory and goodness. It shows just what a wonderful Great Physician He really is to take something so ruined and mend it. It brings glory to Him!

He allows cracked vessels to be seen – often to our dismay – then fixes us, to show His power of restoration and redemption.

“The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” ~ Psalm 34: 18

Living A Kintsugi Life

One can consider how we might live a kintsugi life, finding value in the missing pieces, cracks, and chips – bringing to light the scars that have come from life experiences, (like mine) finding new purpose through aging (yes, aging) and loss, seeing the beauty of ‘imperfection’ and loving each other even with flaws.

That is my prayer for anyone who has been broken. Instead of focusing on the cracks, the hurts and pains as a thing of shame and ugliness, why not use them as an opportunity to shine? Let God in His perfect artistry take you in His hands and repair you to the thing of awe and loveliness that He intended.

“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: 7

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