About ten years ago during one of my frequent work trips to Kobe, I purchased an amazing tea cup for my wife. My wife is an artist and a potter, and enjoys the human connection in pottery. This particular yunomi immediately became her favorite for her daily espresso. The weight, balance, size, thinness, texture and delicate sakura paintings on the cup were a daily comfort— especially when I was traveling yet again. I tried to find another during my multiple trips back, but none of them came close to the first.
And then one day, it broke. Shattered. Completely.
Without my wife knowing, I tried to find as many parts as possible out of the garbage. Fixing it with superglue wasn’t an option since some parts had disintegrated- and it wouldn’t be the same.
I researched and found an authentic traditional kintsugi kit on Etsy. The uniquely Japanese box (read: super cool) finally arrived, holding oragami folded materials bore the familiar address “Scott-san”- causing me to miss Kobe and my dear friends.
It took two months of work, practicing on a separate piece -and then making the various forms of urushi and kokuso, figuring out how to keep them stable while they dried piece by piece- days each time. My daughter joined me for the painstaking layers :)
And finally the gold application!
And... it worked! I honestly can’t believe it- it isn’t perfect, but that’s part of the “wabi-sabi” :) And, artisans spend their entire life mastering it, so I’m happy after two months.
The best part, we finished the night before my wife’s birthday, and it actually help hot espresso without falling apart as we gave it to her!
In many ways and many times, my life and our family have been shattered like this cup. I am extremely thankful that our Master artist has put us back together in ways we never imagined. It has taken time- months or years, but He is our healer. He takes what the world would throw away and makes perfect.
We’ve learned of the wholeness, the “shalom” the our Heavenly Father gives which is beyond what this world can promise or give.
As I look at this cup, I am thankful for the “tikkun olam”, the wholeness which we’ve experienced that comes as part of following His voice and commands.
Jeremiah 6:16 (ESV): Thus says the Lord: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.”
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