Leaking Gold

God loves us so much that he allows us the freedom to choose our paths. As humans, born with concupiscence, our inclination to sin, we are fragile. Just like a piece of pottery, the wear and tear of life, overtime starts to take those tiny cracks in our holiness and make them bigger, wider, and more visible. Like a broken vessel leaks water, we leak grace. 

Our brokenness is a reality and eventuality. Because of original sin we have no choice but to inherit a weakened nature and attraction to sin. Since God meets us where we are, He devised a plan that uses our very brokenness to become even more beautiful. However, God has a vision for each and every one of us. His plan for us to become not broken, but whole. The best version of ourselves.

In Japan, there is an art form called Kintsugi. A broken vessel instead of being thrown out, is taken and repaired by an artist. The philosophy of Kintsugi is to use the history of the vessel and its brokenness and instead of hiding it, the artist highlights its history and uses it to create beauty in the uniqueness of the broken pieces by mixing in gold to the mortar and highlighting those cracks. 

This is perhaps how God makes us whole, how he sanctifies us. In a process similar to Kintsugi. He takes what is broken and makes it whole again but in a new way. It is still a bowl, but now it is interwoven with gold. We are still children of God, and with our cooperation, He makes us whole with veins of His virtues and grace. In this new wholeness we are even more beautiful than the original. When others see the gold on this bowl, they see the love of an artist who decided to transform what was broken and ugly into something beautiful. When people look at your beauty, they are seeing God within us. His love, goodness, truth, and beauty.