Broken Vessels

It’s a mess.

Hmmm, yes. I have to agree. 

I don’t know how I can fix it. 

Well, you have glue and time. 

……!

What?

Glue and time? I think it will take more than that. Even if I had baling wire and duct tape, I couldn’t fix it!

Don’t be silly. Duct tape can fix anything.

Are you serious?

No, but I can see you are. Why don’t we just pick up the pieces and put them in this box? 

Ah. Good idea. We can bury it in the backyard.

Oh … well, no, that’s not what I had in mind. I thought we could put it here on the shelf until you’re feeling less stressed. Then, we can sit down together and put it back together. 

Will I ever be “less stressed”? I can’t remember how that feels. Besides, broken is broken. Even if I could put back together, it wouldn’t be the same. 

Nothing is ever the same once it’s broken. We can mend it, patch it, glue it … even duct tape it. In the end, well, you get it. 

….

Something is going on up there, in that head of yours. 

No. I’m just disappointed. I really liked it. I always felt cheerful when I saw it. And now I don’t. 

You can throw it away, if you’d like. Find something to replace it. 

No. {sigh} 

Well?

We have to mend it. Somehow, put it back together. 

So it matters to you?

Well, not really. But I suspect it matters to you. So, it has to be mended. No one knows it’s broken but me. 

In Japan, they repair things using gold, silver, or platinum. It’s called Kintsugi, and it means golden joinery.

I’ve seen it. It can be beautiful. 

Yes. This ancient Japanese art of mending broken objects with gold is symbolic of embracing our struggles and repairing ourselves with love. 

I don’t have any gold, silver, or platinum. 

Oh, I think we can find some. I have pots of the stuff.

I don’t know … 

Embracing our struggles, our brokenness. That's what this is about. And repairing that brokenness with love.

What if this doesn’t work?

Brokenness mended with gold? Why wouldn’t it? We can’t remake the vessel because it’s hardened. But, we can take a broken vessel and mend the cracks and restore its beauty and usefulness. I like that idea.

Well … OK. But … could you do the repairs? I don’t know where to start.

I started weeks ago. 

#ConversationWithHim