While the cats away…

Neil is away on sabbatical for the next 3 months so, among other responsibilities, I have the pleasure of writing this blog. Neil we hope and pray that you have a well-deserved break over the next few months and come back refreshed and re-energised by time away.

The Japanese have an ancient craft known as kintsugi. If a piece of valuable china such as a vase or bowl was dropped, then instead of throwing it away, or repairing it perfectly, the kintsugi craftsman would use lacquer containing gold to piece it back together. And so, while the original work was made whole again, its scars and cracks were kept, celebrated, honoured, in golden seams. The restored item was considered far more beautiful than the original – because of its brokenness.

This reminds me of the Leonard Cohen song Anthem, the chorus of which goes:

Ring the bells that still can ring

Forget your perfect offering

There is a crack, a crack in everything

That’s how the light gets in.

In his second letter to the Corinthians Paul talks about carrying “the treasure in earthen vessels” (2 Corinthians 4:7)

A piece of Kintsugi pottery, Leonard Cohen and Paul are all reminding us that there is a profound brokenness to everything, what theologians sometimes call original sin. It is found in you, in me, in all of creation. Being reminded of this on a regular basis should serve to keep us patient, humble and less judgemental. It reminds us that it is God’s grace, rather than our achievements, which form the golden seam that makes us whole again. Not by removing our struggles or difficulties but by transforming them, helping us to grow through them, and considering us more beautiful as a result.

God bless you,

Charlie