wabi sabi: less like scars

Picture and quote below borrowed from the following link:
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/29343835044919424/

Susan Davis Cushing                                                 

"A beautiful example of wabi sabi… When the Japanese mend broken objects, they aggrandize the damage by filling the cracks with gold. They believe that when something’s suffered damage and has a history it becomes more beautiful. - Barbara Bloom Kintsugi technique on oribe ceramic bowl"

The words "wabi-sabi" was shared by a friend several years ago.

While I cannot exactly describe this Japanese word or the related philosophy and worldview, the idea that it left behind was "brokenness than can be beautifully mended". The picture was of a cracked wooden bowl where the crack had been aesthetically, painstakingly and beautifully sealed.

Of late, I have been thinking about brokenness. About situations in our lives which hurt us, made us bitter, broke some desperate inner piece of us...that left a crack deep within. We do not want to be touched there because it hurts.

We learn to live around our hurts, insulate those bitter parts, manage to keep them at the back...leave them undisturbed if we can.

But then, there is a mending...in the hands of the healer.

In the book of the prophet Isaiah in the Bible, it says..."He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted" (Isa 61:1). It can be interpreted as God has sent Jesus to reach us in those desperate broken parts and then heal us painstakingly, beautifully and completely. When he heals us, the scar may remain, but the pain is removed....and the scar itself becomes a reminder that the hurts in our lives were real but the healing has reversed the pain and hurt.. and through Jesus it is possible  to get "the oil of gladness instead of mourning, a crown of glory instead of ashes, a garment of praise instead of a faint spirit".

I want to share this song which reminded me of "wabi-sabi"...the brokenness and the healing. Of how our hurts and brokenness when given in the hands of Jesus, get transformed to blessings and character. Written and sung by Sara Groves, it compelled me to sit down and write this blog today.

"It's been a hard year
But I'm climbing out of the rubble
These lessons are hard
Healing changes are subtle
But every day it's

Less like tearing, more like building
Less like captive, more like willing
Less like breakdown, more like surrender
Less like haunting, more like remember

And I feel you here
And you're picking up the pieces
Forever faithful
It seemed out of my hands, a bad situation
But you are able
And in your hands the pain and hurt
Look less like scars and more like
Character

Less like a prison, more like my room
It's less like a casket, more like a womb
Less like dying, more like transcending
Less like fear, less like an ending

And I feel you here
And you're picking up the pieces
Forever faithful
It seemed out of my hands, a bad situation
But you are able
And in your hands the pain and hurt
Look less like scars

Just a little while ago
I couldn't feel the power or the hope
I couldn't cope, I couldn't feel a thing
Just a little while back
I was desperate, broken, laid out, hoping
You would come

And I need you
And I want you here
And I feel you

And I know you're here
And you're picking up the pieces
Forever faithful
It seemed out of my hands, a bad, bad situation
But you are able

And in your hands the pain and hurt
Look less like scars (x3)

And more like
Character"

 

and here is the song and I hope you will listen to it:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CjbCcyIiQw