Letting the light shine through.

“Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I am in distress;
I have become like broken pottery.
Let your face shine on Your servant; save me in Your unfailing love.” From Psalm 31

“But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God”. John 3: 21

Have you come across the Japanese practise of Kintsugi? It is the art of repairing broken pottery with a mixture of glue and gold. The joins become not flaws, but symbols of strength, renewed purpose, and beauty.
It embraces the idea that imperfection or brokenness is a chance to build something greater than what was there before. The gold highlights the seams of repair, so that the reconstruction is not hidden, but there to show that we can make something extraordinary and purposeful out of what seemed to be damaged and worthless.
Do you find yourself feeling frustration, envy, weariness, or sorrow? Do you suffer from anxiety or fear? Do you feel worthless? Are you feeling abandoned by God?
Negativity is a trap we all fall into at times in our lives, times when the stable life we were in becomes fractured and shaken. And when we are in a dark place, it can be difficult to ask for help, or to know where to seek the light. We forget who to turn to, to ask for help, to seek the golden glue that will bind our shattered selves and make us fit for God’s purpose, once again.
We need God in our lives to cope with our human struggles on this earth. We need the promise given to us, through the Resurrection, to be able to face each day and go forward, knowing that we are walking “In the Light” on the path that God has chosen for us.
Without seeing that our struggles are caused by our own resistance to the path that God needs us to walk, we deny the chance for healing and growth. We need to let go of feeling that we are flawed, not fit for the journey, “like broken pottery”. By turning to God to ask for His help, we can become beautiful and strong, shining golden, bound together in a new and beautiful way by the glory and grace of God’s love.
It is Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians (2:10), who says that we are “God’s Workmanship”. He made us the way we are, loves us the way we are, and asks us to do His works here on earth, to let everyone see the light of God shining through our words and deeds.
For God truly did send His Son into the world, to redeem us. But only if we chose to live our lives as Christians openly, in the light, golden seams and all.

Let us Pray:

God of healing, You sent Your Son into the world to show us the way of truth and light. Shine into our darkness. Bring us hope and comfort in troubled times. Help us to remember we are the work of Your hands, wrought to do Your will, to shine our light out for others to see and follow. We ask this in the name of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Amen