Kintsugi

As you know, my husband, Ken Takeshi Tada is sansei, that is, third generation Japanese born here in America. Even though Ken is as American as they come – a real man’s man who loves football and fly fishing – his heart is rooted in the Japanese culture. He loves talking about his family history, and the other day he was telling me about something called Kintsugi. It’s a Japanese method for repairing broken pottery, and it is quite an art form. The Japanese will repair a shattered piece of pottery with a special lacquer mixed with gold, silver, or platinum. The potter doesn’t disguise the injury to ceramic piece; he actually showcases it. The lines of what once were cracks – the broken places – now reflect the beautiful bonding agent. The result is stunning.

I’m sure you’ve picked up on the obvious lesson here. Because God does ‘kintsugi’ on his people all the time. When our lives are shattered by terrible trial, He’s going to put us back together in a way that is far more beautiful, more spectacular than before the trial. Rather than conceal the damage, he accentuates his grace through the broken pieces of our life. It’s one way, perhaps the best way, that He performs Romans 8:28 in us – fitting the broken pieces together for our good and His glory.