Never Too Many Pieces

Kintsugi: a Japanese art form which literally means to "join or mend with gold".  It is the reparation of a broken vessel-- often a vase or bowl-- with gold powder  The result is an altered, albeit more valuable, dish.

Many have reflected upon the symbolism of kintsugi. It hardly needs explanation....

Broken vessels, made more beautiful in their repair.
Painful pieces, turned into glorious works of art.
Strength, made perfect in weakness.

But today, what struck me about kintsugi, as I thought upon this inspirational technique, was not only its loveliness, but its limits.

Kintsugi is renown for its redemptive abilities, but there is a reality that some dishes are just too broken for even gold dust to make useful once again.  You notice, scrolling through images of the glimmering plates and bowls, that these precious dishes rarely have more than a few breaks.  Skilled kintsugi  artists are capable up to a point...  
Not so, with our Maker.

When God's image-bearers fall... and we all do... He is able to redeem what no earthly potter could salvage.  He is able to restore what no human artist could possibly handle.

When the fall is long and hard, and this vessel is crushed to powder... he is still able.
When the break is thorough, and the kids are cleared from the kitchen to avoid bleeding feet... he is still able.
When the vessel has been deemed unusable and hazardous... he is still able.

I am guilty of fixating on the Fall.
Creation. Fall. Redemption. Consummation.

But he is a Maker and a Redeemer.
He is an Author and a Finisher.
He is not just going to make all things beautiful one day, but TODAY he can use the dust of man.  The powder of the fall.  The shards of brokenness.

With a couple wooden planks, a few nails, and the weight of the world, he bore the scars of the fixing.  And he walks with us through the bloody redemption.  The redemption he already purchased, the pieces he already holds in his hands.

He makes all things beautiful.