Kintsugi. If you say it with accent on the second syllable - kint SU gi - it sounds like a sneeze, especially if you’re using your bad Japanese accent. But it actually has nothing to do with sneezing, although it is Japanese. It means “golden seams”, and it refers to the practice of taking a broken ceramic pot or vase, and repairing it using a lacquer mixed with gold. In the end result, you see the flaws, but they have been gloriously elevated, and they raise the value of the pot far beyond the value of the gold added.
Legend has it that a Japanese shogun of 4 or 5 hundred years ago had a favorite china tea bowl that had been broken. He sent it to his next door neighbor (China, of course) for repairs, but when it came back it was put together with ugly - and I’m guessing not too functional - staples. His craftsmen said, “We can do better than that!”, and the result was a new art form, taking what was broken, even ruined, and making it more precious than ever. It got to be so popular that many were accused of breaking pots just so they could fix them up. They weren’t interested in hiding the flaws, but celebrating the recovery of the vessel.
We are all fragile vessels, living in a dangerous, sharp-cornered, hard-surfaced world. To live is to be broken, and we spend a lot of time trying to cover up our wounds. Most of us aren’t exactly thrilled when our shortcomings come to light, so there’s always a huge market for toupees and hair plugs and girdles and makeup and the corresponding psychological spackle from self-help gurus. Of course, that’s a lot more like fixing broken vessels with wax than “kintsugi".
Wax? Also according to legend, when ancient Romans were putting statues all over the place, unscrupulous vendors would make them out of flawed marble and fill the bad parts with "cera" (wax). They could make it look good, until the weather hit it. Furious Italians then began to demand written money-back guarantees that their new statues were "sine cera" - Without Wax - which became our word “sincere”.
Looks to me like the Japanese came closer to godliness with their invention.
When someone comes to Christ, He begins to heal their broken places. He doesn’t do it with medicine, or religion, or philosophy, He does it with Himself. He fills those wounds, transforming the Ugly into the Beautiful, the Worthless into the Priceless. Feeling the pain and strain of a busted up life? Call on Jesus, because He’s the only Craftsman who makes you complete.
But he said to me, “My grace is enough for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” So then, I will boast most gladly about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may reside in me. 2 Cor. 12:9
