One of my closest friends sent me a video the other day. It was about the ancient Japanese art of kintsugi ("golden joinery") or kintsukuroi ("golden repair"). As one may have guessed, it has something to do with gold. Kintsugi is the practice of fixing something that was broken with gold or gold-dusted lacquer. When the broken pottery is joined together with the gold, one will obviously see the cracks; this is the Japanese way of giving something character. The cracks, now repaired, clearly show the item's history; in the end, the piece becomes a different, interesting work of art in its own right.

Photo: Wikipedia

We all feel broken sometimes, whether it's physically or mentally. We're human. We can't help the way we were created. It's impossible for us to change certain aspects of our background as if they were clothing. Yet it is solely our choice to take these broken pieces of ourselves and bring them together in a way that can be pleasing. On the other hand, we could just try to sweep them aside as if they have no effect on us. The former shows that we have learned a lesson and have chosen to accept our shortcomings, while the latter reveals that we don't believe our flaws can be beautiful.

Maybe your brokeness doesn't come from something you cannot change about yourself. Maybe you are broken due to some bad decisions or actions. We've all been there. One choice, big or small, leads to many others. Then you turn around and realize the direction (or lack thereof) that your life has taken.

I'm at a point right now where I feel overwhelmed by confusion, heartache, and pain. I feel as if I'm not going anywhere in life and maybe I've even taken a few steps back. Maybe it's time I pick up the pieces and fill in the cracks with a little bit of gold. I won't be entirely the same person, but that's exactly what I'm going for. I want to become a new work of art.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: oldthingsarepassedaway; behold, all things are become new.

Isaiah 43:18-19a Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing;now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it?

Jeremiah 18:4 And the vessel thathemade of clay was marred in the hands of the potter: sohemadeitagainanothervessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.