Japanese Kintsugi Ceramic Art
The revelation of God is whole and pulls our lives together.
The signposts of God are clear and point out the right road.
The life-maps of God are right, showing the way to joy.
The directions of God are plain and easy on the eyes.
God’s reputation is twenty-four-carat gold, with a lifetime guarantee.
The decisions of God are accurate down to the nth degree.
Psalm 19:7-9 (The Message)
There is a common idea that we can find joy in ourselves and our accomplishments. It is more likely that we will find joy in the lives of others whom we love. This idea is expressed in the word mudita.* It is a good but not common word in our Western culture.
This last week, it happened to me with the fulfillment of the dreams of grandchildren. It was a mudita moment when I witnessed them getting good news. I never had the dreams that they have, but I was filled with joy by being a FaceTime participant.
I have written about this kind of experience previously from a professional perspective but never had the words to describe it! Mudita happened frequently in the delivery room with “awe” and “ah” responses of the new parents and those present. It was a sacred moment that I was invited to witness and sometimes assist. They were mudita moments.
The harder question comes when the news is hard and fills us with fear, loss and uncertainty. What word or action describes our response? Is there a way to put the disappointments and loss back together? One answer is found in the Japanese art of kintsugi**. The artist takes the broken valued ceramic pieces and puts the pieces together with a gold adhesive that results in a new/old vase even more beautiful and valuable than the original!
Thanks be to God for both the mudita and kintsugi moments in our lives.
Marvin
References
*”Mudita” was introduced to me by the keynote presentation at the Calvin University January Series by Amber Warners. You can listen to it at:
Hage, M. L. (2013). Joy
**”Kintsugi” was introduced to me in the book, “Faithful and Fractured” by
Proeschold-Bell, R. J., & Byassee, J. (2018).
Hage, M. L. (2018). Healing Clergy.
