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FOR TODAY Look at this image of a piece of pottery. Notice the repaired fractures. This form of restoration is called kintsugi which means “golden seam.” Instead of tossing away broken pieces of ceramics, kintsugi is the Japanese art of taking broken shards and restoring them with an epoxy that is mixed with gold. Its origins date to 15th century when a military ruler sent a damaged Chinese tea bowl back to China for repair. It was returned fixed together with ugly metal staples. As the story goes, the Japanese artisans were so offended, they set out to create the method of fixing the broken pottery that made the mended vessel more beautiful and more valued than it was before. Kintsugi honors the broken seams as something beautiful and a valued part of the story of an object rather than something to disguise, cover up, or replace altogether. Think now about our lives, especially the broken divided seams between those around us and within creation itself. If the idea of kintsugi holds true, then these broken seams offer us the opportunity to create a new life even more beautiful and even stronger than before. Restoration then is an art that seeks to witness how new life can be more beautiful.
FOR FURTHER REFLECTION What is a “broken seam” in your life to which you need to attend? When did you experience a time when the new life you discovered was more beautiful than you expected? How has your “broken seam” made you more sensitive to and compassionate with others?
RESTORE This fourth week focuses on the word restore. No one expected 2020. Our country has been driven apart by a virus, ravaged by storms and fires, divided by protests and riots, and ripped asunder by the demands of an election. All of this has affected us. Our hearts are heavy, our minds are confused, our souls are weary, and our society has been fractured. WIFI connections have disconnected us and left us in isolated pods. And yet, amid the chaos sounds our mission "to restore all people to unity with God and each other.” Our catechism goes on to ask two more questions about the mission of restoration. Find all previous daily devotionals here