In my art class, I had to create a series centered around a theme. For my theme, I was inspired by kintsugi, which is an Asian art form where broken pottery is remade with gold. The gold bonds the shattered clay, and suddenly, the cracks and imperfections in the pottery are embraced. The ruined remains are enhanced by the gold, being transformed into a priceless work of art.
I aim to prove the beauty in flaws, so I began my Divine Kintsugi series by taking inspiration from imperfections in nature-- dying flowers, torn petals, broken branches, injured animals-- and combining them with lyrics from my favorite worship songs.
The song that is connected to this piece is Natalie Grant's "Held" and here is a section of it:
"This is what it means to be held...
This is what it is to be loved
And to know that the promise was
When everything fell we'd be held"
Drawing from the song's idea of being embraced despite trials and flaws, I created this piece with the rose's bottom half being brown and dead. Why would I paint a flower to be imperfect? Well, this leads back to Divine Kintsugi.
When I look at that flower, my first response is to inwardly cringe at its flaws, at such a weak life force.
But, God does not see this flower as "less than", and the same can be said for His view of us.
The Lord knows that all of His creations are imperfect, because that's what sin has done. But our flaws, our scars, are testimonies of our perseverance and God's provision. Paul writes how trials produce perseverance, then character, and then hope (Romans 5:3).
Our imperfections are not weaknesses, but rather proof of His strength.
By ourselves, by our own doing, we are wilted and dying. It is only by God's Spirit and grace that we are made whole.
Jesus is our gold, the pure life and light that pieces us back together. All of us are imperfect, and all of us will break. But our hope is not in ourselves. Our hope is in His truth, a truth that proclaims that we are not defined by our sins, but rather by Him.
Through Jesus, we go from broken to whole, dirt to gold, sinful to pure, invisible to priceless, imperfect to enough. Not perfect, not perfect until Heaven, but enough through our God of Love. Jesus is our gold, and we will praise Him forevermore!
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