Broken Dreams, Kintsugi and Jesus by Lynda Alsford

Kintsugi or Kintsukuroi  is the Japanese art

of mending broken pottery with gold resin

I have been amazed as I look back over the last few years of my life to see just how far God has brought me. Broken dreams had left my life in pieces. I  no longer believed in God and my dreams were in tatters around my feet. But 5 years later and my faith is stronger than it ever was and the broken pieces of my life are being put back together into something even more beautiful. And in the process God healed me of  food addiction and is now using me to help others suffering in that way.



In the course of research for a sermon two years ago, I came across websites talking about the Japanese art of Kintsugi, or Kintsukuroi. This ancient Japanese art fascinated me immediately. I knew God was speaking to me through it. 

Kintsugi (Japanese: golden joinery) or Kintsukuroi (Japanese: golden repair) is the Japanese art of fixing broken pottery with a lacquer resin sprinkled with powdered gold. The beauty of this pottery captured me straight away. It spoke not just to me as a thing of beauty but the spiritual message that goes with it seemed to shout off the page to me.

We all go through hard times. We all suffer. Sometimes going through those hard times has left me feeling like broken pottery. As the Psalmist says,

"I am forgotten as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery". Psalm 31:12 (NIV) 

Those words describe how I felt 5 years ago. I was shattered into pieces that I thought were no longer useful or beautiful. I wondered how God would use me again or how I would ever feel ‘together’ again. Would my scars make me ugly or a burden to others?

My guess is that we have all felt like that at times. But at those times it is good if we can remember another truth from Scripture, a truth found in Isaiah 64:8

"Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand." 

Seeing those pictures of Kintsugi made me realise that if we surrender the broken pieces of our lives to the Heavenly Potter then something beautiful happens. He will put us together again with gold, the gold of His healing, His Holy Spirit.

This is what Hannah, the prophet Samuel's mother, did in 1 Samuel. She poured out her heart, with all its broken dreams to the Lord, and He heard her pain and He put her back together again with gold.

Surrendering the broken pieces of our lives is hard - it is oh so hard, but worth it, oh so worth it! I have found this to be true in my life. I pray it will be so in yours too.

If you want to listen to the full sermon you can find it on YouTube .

God bless you all

Lynda Alsford currently works a GP receptionist and writes in her spare time. She has self-published two books. He Never Let Go describes her journey through a major crisis of faith whilst working as an evangelist at a lively Church in Chiswick, West London. Being Known describes how God set her free from food addiction. Both books are available in paperback and on kindle on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com

Lynda loves living near the sea in Sussex, UK and can't stop taking photos of the sun setting into the sea. Find out more about her at www.lyndaalsford.com or at www.patch-work-blog.blogspot.co.uk