Kintsugi

- The world is predicated upon mending what is broken, and this reality of how this kintsugi bowl is more valuable than the original, really speaks to the restorative, redemptive process, of the Gospel. [Music] Kintsugi is this art form of mending broken shards of pottery. Kin means gold and tsugi means to mend. So you are reconnecting the broken pieces, but doing it in a way that is, that is beautiful. And, it's an art form of its own. Kintsugi speaks about conditions of trauma and brokenness. Ground zero conditions. Valuing what you have, rather than this disposable culture. Kintsugi is not just fixing, but it's creating into an opportunity of brokenness. And so that is a redemptive journey. That leads to new creation. Kintsugi concept can be applied in many different ways. So we say it’s like we fix the soil, which means not to restore the soil, but to mend it. So, you add the elements to it that makes the soil come alive. So when you plant something in there, it thrives. That's an interesting parallel, because understanding the health of the Earth really has elements of kintsugi in it. Creator minds fix upon these traumatic events in history. If you removed all of the novels and art forms that came directly out of trauma, you would lose 80% of the world’s art. You would not have Hemingway. You would not have J.D. Salinger. You would not have Dante, you would not have Milton. The world would be decimated. It's a very significant way of understanding art and literature. And, more importantly, our communities, and it’s a way of processing the past, finding healing, to be able to sow seeds of hope in the midst of conflict. We tend to want to run away from these conflicts and traumas, but it is the very heart of what the arts represent. Kintsugi reminds us that sometimes instead of throwing away things of the past, that it's good to work, to mend, and to do it beautifully. To me, how the gospel reads is Christ came not just to fix us, but to restore us, to create something new, which is more valuable than what we began with.