Posted by The WORD in other words (2023) by Fr Dindo Santiago SVD – Japan
Wednesday 21st Week in Ordinary Time
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
In this competitive world we live in, hiding one’s flaws, imperfections, brokenness, or weaknesses is but a normal thing. For many, especially leaders desperate to gain the respect of others, there is no room for vulnerability. On some occasions, people even resort to projecting a person different from who they really are, disguising to be someone they are not, maliciously concealing their true identity pretending to be somebody else, to the point of hypocrisy in order to “look good” before other people.
Kintsugi is the Japanese art of fixing broken pottery. Instead of putting together the ceramic pieces with an invisible adhesive, the Kintsugi technique uses a special lacquer with powdered gold such that it leaves streaks of gold where the cracks were. This is to acknowledge the unique history of the pottery by emphasizing rather than concealing its “brokenness.” This made me think about how we perceive our own brokenness and about the reality that we can never look perfect before other people.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
In a way, Kintsugi teaches us to embrace our imperfections. The scars brought by our past actually make us even more beautiful, and weaknesses should not hinder us from moving forward through the path of true righteousness. Accepting our brokenness sets us free and helps us not to be ashamed of it. Thus, there will be no need to resort to projecting, concealing, distorting the truth, or even being hypocritical. We only need to live our true selves, which entails spending time cleansing our hearts, purifying our souls, and allowing us to be refined by God to become the person he wants us to be before other people.
If we can spend much money and plenty of time to physically look good, let us spend even more time and effort to polish the inside to bear good fruit. Nourishing a “good heart” will naturally flow out and reflect outwardly what is inside. Despite our brokenness, through the grace of God we can be true “light of the world” shining for the glory of God before other people.
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