Golden Joinery

Golden Joinery

by Kim Larsen

Psalm 31:12 “I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind; I am like a broken vessel.”

Kintsugi art dates back to the late 15th century. According to legend, the craft commenced when Japanese shogun Ashikiaga Yoshimasa sent a cracked tea bowl back to China to undergo repairs. Upon its return, Yoshimasa was displeased to find that it had been mended with unsightly metal staples. This motivated contemporary craftsmen to find an alternative, aesthetically pleasing method of repair and Kintsugi was born. This repair method celebrates each artifact’s unique history by emphasizing its fractures and breaks instead of hiding or disguising them. Kintsugi often makes the repaired piece even more beautiful than the original, revitalizing it with new life.

We are now in God’s workshop. Many of us are rough stones from the quarry. But as we lay hold upon the truth of God, its influence affects us. It elevates us and removes from us every imperfection and sin, whatever the nature. Thus we are prepared to see the King in His beauty and finally to unite with the pure and heavenly angels in the kingdom of glory. It is here that this work is to be accomplished for us, here that our bodies and spirits are to be fitted for immortality.

I like the thought that our “cracks” the “brokenness” of our lives are filled with the righteousness of Christ. Just like the cracked tea bowl, which became even more beautiful with its imperfection. It is difficult to escape some injury while we live in this world. We all have dysfunction of some sort. Jesus takes this life of ours and makes something beautiful from it.

Take heart dear friend. God isn’t finished with us yet! As we look into 2018 with hope and anticipation let us allow our creator to uncover the cracks that we have long kept covered, and fill them with the golden dust of the Holy Spirit that we might be more beautiful than ever before.