Kintsugi
-An exclusive excerpt from Allen’s new book-
When something goes wrong, we expect the fix will be minimal at best.
If a relationship breaks, each party wants the other to reach out or change. If we can take a pill for immediate results (with side effects) or try a more long-term solution that is safer, we tend to choose the pill. And if our vehicle breaks due to a crash, insurance companies rarely authorize the body shop to use original equipment manufacturer (OEM) parts. They go with less expensive aftermarket parts because the goal isn’t to make our vehicle better than it was before—but return it to the pre-wrecked version.
Thankfully, Jesus has a different standard for our broken parts. When asked about his mission, Jesus defined it by quoting this verse from Isaiah:
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound. (Isaiah 61:1 ESV)
Jesus takes the shattered pieces of our hearts and lives and puts us back together, better than we were before. The process reminds me of the ancient Japanese art form known as Kintsugi. The technique repairs shattered pottery by infusing shimmering golden lacquer into the broken places as they are put back together. Doing so creates a one-of-a-kind piece of art that highlights, rather than hides, the brokenness. The repaired item is more valuable than before, because there is no other vessel like it in the world. Kintsugi makes the broken beautiful again. Jesus does infinitely more for us.
We admire this art form when it comes to pottery but rarely practice it in our lives. We tend to hide our scars. We doubt any good can come from drawing attention to our stuck places. But what if we don’t have to stay broken or accept aftermarket parts that just get us back to the old version of who we were?
Our Creator is the master artisan, ready to restore us in the very places the enemy tried to break us and keep us stuck. When the Creator puts the fragments of our hearts back together, we don’t have to settle for being a little less stuck. Or who we once were.
We can be free. We can be better than new.
(From The Creativity Glitch: How to Stop Being Stuck, Find Your Groove, & Create with God.Copyright © 2026 Allen Arnold.)
This reading was crafted to encourage your pursuit of story and creativity with God. Your donation makes this crowd-funded initiative possible. You can support it via PAYPAL (or by check to Allen Arnold at PO Box 62841, Colorado Springs, CO 80962).
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