God will repair our brokenness if we allow Him – Motivation for the week

26th November – Rev. Fr. Raymond Osei Tutu

They say we are never given more than we can handle; but I think we can look at it a little differently. We are often given more than we can handle, and that’s why so many of us are so broken. The jar of our life breaks when there’s too much to handle. About a year ago, I presided over a wedding of which I used a pot to demonstrate how fragile marriage is, and indeed the whole of life. After the sermon, I was set into thinking, “Of what use is a broken Jar in life”? Why cry over spilt milk? Is there a need to try to repair my broken relationship with my God, spouse, friends, colleagues, subordinates and/or enemies? For some, we give up so early because we think there is no hope. But, we forget to have hope, the situation must first of all be hopeless. My year’s reflection brought me to the truth that the only beauty from a scene of a broken jar is that jars can be repaired with gold; and because of that, they can become even more beautiful than they were before.

A Japanese military ruler, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who lived from 1537 to 1598, owned a Korean tea bowl named Tsutsui Zutsu, which he had received as a gift. At a special gathering a page handling this precious bowl dropped it and it broke into five pieces. People froze because Toyotomi had a reputation for extreme anger. Then a guest improvised a funny poem, which made everyone laugh and brought Toyotomi back to the good spirit he was in before. The guest repaired it using gold powder mixed with lacquer, which actually made the bowl more beautiful than before. The ruler inquired the name of the method used of which he was told: kintsukuroi (kin-tsU-kU-roi), meaning golden repair.

I see around me lots of “Broken Jars” that need kintsukuroi. Many of the relationships I mentioned above, like Jars, are broken year onto year. Jars of life are meant to be broken but that’s not the end of the story. The choice is yours! Life breaks us, in a variety of painful ways. And unfortunately we often deny it. Would we rather disguise our cracks than undergo golden repair? I repeat now the closing words of the sermon at the wedding which many call The Broken Pot Wedding, “The down fall of a man is not the end of his life.” Today, gather your pieces and take them to the Lord in Prayer for a golden repair.

May your Week not be Weak but with Him! I send you my prayerful wishes for the week. 

By Rev. Fr. Raymond Osei Tutu

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