Living A Golden Life

In his excellent book titled The Creative Act: A Way Of Being, Rick Rubin writes: “In Japanese pottery, there’s an artful form of repair called kintsugi. When a piece of ceramic pottery breaks, rather than trying to restore it to its original condition, the artisan accentuates the fault by using gold to fill the crack. This beautifully draws attention to where the work was broken, creating a golden vein. Instead of the flaw diminishing the work, it becomes a focal point, an area of both physical and aesthetic strength. The scar also tells the story of the piece, chroniciling its past experience.”

Contrast to my childhood friend, Humpty Dumpty, who fell from a wall and couldn’t be put together again. “Throw that thing away! We’ve got a schedule to meet.” Perfection is a hard task-master. Or, “If it’s cracked, just turn it around and nobody will notice the flaw.” Sometimes pretending leads to pain. Or, “She’s made some dumb decisions in her life. Do we really want to offer her the job?” Have you ever heard of learning from experience? Becoming strong, wiser because of life’s circumstances?

Here’s the point: Someone who lives creatively, courageously…faithfully…most often has a lot of gold filling the broken places. Gold. Not mud or duct-tape or even super-glue. Sometimes we get broken when we try…try to be thoughtful or merciful or honest and something happens to cause the crack. And when we look at our cracked selves in the mirror we settle for the Humpty Dumpty has-been pile. Wrong. Living fully means challenges, and challenges mean cracks, and cracks can be/should be marks of learning, insight and new strength.

God, give me strength and wisdom today to recognize value in the totality of my life, not just the sweet moments. Jesus, seal the cracks in my life with golden forgiveness, grace and courage. Holy Spirit, guide me today away from the walls of foolish extravagance or fearful retreat, and if I fall, patch me up with the gold of your graciousness. A thought for your Wednesday morning. We press on. Cracks and all.