The Art of Restoring Value to the Broken

I never imagined when I sat down to paint those first shells, that it would turn into a life philosophy.

I’ve known the touch of Grace in my life, (and I pray you have known it, too). The thing about grace, is that it is not linked to anything we do or don’t do. It exists because God is good.

Sometimes we have to look for grace, even search it out. Those are the hard, rough places we all seem to walk through at some point. It was during one of those times that Grace led me to look deeper into the concept of Kintsugi.

Kintsugi presented an idea so different from the ideals that our current media culture have presented. There is no denying the beauty of the traditional Kintsugi repaired vessel. In Kintsugi, the beauty in the imperfect is so exquisitely displayed. These lovely pieces of pottery become even more impressive and intriguing with the golden repair.

Reflecting on this while looking at life circumstances helped me embrace the idea that pieces of my life, however imperfect, can have a beauty when Grace has had a hand in the repair. There is no single script for the ‘perfect’ life. Actually, it is most important that we realize the point is not the image, but the process. There is dignity and value in the journey and those broken places can teach us and add beauty to our story if we join them with Grace.

This touch of Grace, referenced to by the gold paint on the shells, adds beauty and value, making them more than they were before. It makes the declaration that this object, once damaged, has had its beauty and value restored. Grace offers that to the broken places in each of us. These shells have become symbols of this idea.

This is KintsugiGrace®, the art of restoring value to the broken.