The image is that of a process the Japanese call kintsugi, also known as kintsukuroi, which means “golden repair.”
It is the art of repairing a piece of damaged pottery by mending the broken pieces with lacquer infused with gold, silver, or platinum.
The idea is that breakage and repair is not something to be hidden or disguised, but an essential and visible part of its history.
Not only is the patch-up not hidden, but it’s also actually illuminated by the golden threads.
In other words, there is beauty in the imperfect.
Pride may tell us to hide all our imperfections or worse, deny we have them.
We know better.
The life we live, with all the successes and triumphs, strengths and weaknesses, along with what we consider the ugly, can be beautiful and not the blight often associated with an imperfect past.
Because we all have one.
And God never wastes an experience.
Any experience.
Kintsugi. Your golden repair.
Think about it. Honor it.
We’ve all been mended.
