repair

I will never look at broken pottery the same.

Today is Palm Sunday, the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. He didn’t enter the street on an Arabian horse but a mere donkey. His life was one of humility.

This morning I was watching Port City Church on-line and learned about an art form called Kintsugi. It’s an ancient method of repairing broken pottery with other elements such as gold. The outcome is transformational. It takes a broken object and creates something beautiful, and some might even say more beautiful than the original.

The symbolism of this art form struck me as Mike, our pastor, related Kintsugi to life and more directly, the Christian life. The service started with a testimonial of a man who had devastating struggles, which included drugs and a life-altering, debilitating injury. His life was broken, like a piece of pottery, and now, through the process of repair, it has been transformed into something much more beautiful. His life represented the art form of Kintsugi, but the potter was the one who made the triumphal entry. 

These are difficult times as so much of life is in flux. We need to make an extra effort to reflect and remember important aspects of life. We aren't able to celebrate traditional events like Palm Sunday and Easter, the way we typically do, and yet they still occur. So what can we do?

Today is the first day of Holy Week. Perhaps we each can reflect on something a bit deeper (than a new Netflix series) and consider the many lives that are broken and in need of repair. Maybe we need to take some time to dig a little deeper into our soul and find new meaning to the life we were given? Maybe some of us are a bit broken, but perhaps the process of repair can be even more beautiful than we imagined.

I tend to be more of a glass half-full kind of person, but that doesn’t mean I’m always positive about every aspect of life. I do want to make a difference though, which means a more deliberate action on my part. I’m keeping open to the needs around me and hope that I can help in the repair process- whatever that might look like. We all can do something. We are made to be transformed into something even more beautiful.