Perfectly Flawed
David Francis
My dad was an antique restorer, selling into the auctions what he renovated. Often he came home with various objects that he thought were nice or worth keeping because of its style, even if it needed a little repair here and there.
One bulbous, long necked vase became one of my possessions after he died and, from one angle, it really was a lovely piece of pottery with gorgeous dimensions. However there was a part on its neck that had cracked and dad had repaired this with some of his wood glue which, though extremely strong, was not particularly clear or tidy & very visible — making the fix unsightly.
Japanese kintsugi craftsmen would have scoffed at such amateur work as far as pottery was concerned. Their repair craft is on another level altogether and I think we can learn from its philosophy — which I hope to explain in this reflection.
Kintsugi means “golden joinery”, where precious metal like gold or silver, or special lacquer dusted with gold, is used to bring together the broken pieces of pottery. The scars and cracks are celebrated, as no piece can break in the same way as another. The process of filling the cracks with gold increases the value of the object.
Isn’t this like our Christian lives?
Though we often like to consider the decent parts of our lives and character, if we are honest we are all so very flawed and broken. Sometimes with shards and pieces even missing completely. Let’s face it, we certainly are not perfect. Paul reminds us that:
As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one.
Romans 3:10 (referring to Psalm 14:3)
In Matthew 5:48, Jesus calls us to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect. In Luke 6:35-36, He said we are to be kind to the ungrateful, merciful, just like our Father in heaven.
But as well as these beautiful attitudes we have to aspire towards, our hearts deceive us (Jeremiah 17:9) with thoughts that lead us into wrong ideas & actions (Mark 7:20-23).
So what fixes us?
It is the pure, precious love and forgiveness of Christ. Our flaws are mended as we get stuck back together in Him. Because of Him we are seen as perfect and greatly beloved by our Father in heaven — precisely because Jesus has lived a perfect life on our behalf. As He takes our brokenness, reassures us we still have purpose and value, His golden repair fixes us with even greater beauty than before.
To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Colossians 1:27
Gold represented royalty, holiness, purity and eternal value. Playing around with words it is the ‘Kingsurgery’ not kintsugi that makes us whole and complete in Him.
Lifting our hearts to God in the same vein, Coldplay’s ‘Fix You’ is well worth a listen.
