“But I don’t want to go among mad people” said Alice.
“Oh you can’t help that,” said the cat.
“We’re all made here. I’m mad. You’re mad.”
“How do you know I’m mad?” asked Alice.
“You must be,” said the cat, “or you wouldn’t have come.”
Alice in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll)
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could all feel completely together all of the time. No insecurities. No doubts. No fears. No cracks, bumps or bruises. In short, perfect!
Our world loves wholeness. Smooth lines, perfect finishes, balance. We like to spend hours looking at pictures of how wonderful other people’s lives are and spend just as long attempting to make our own life look just as good if not better. Being broken isn’t acceptable or desirable. It’s just broken.
No body is perfect
The reality is that each one of us are, in one way or another, a little broken. Emotionally, physically it doesn’t really matter we all have a few cracks.
There is a crack in everything.
That’s how the light gets in. – Leonard Cohen
Beautifully broken
The bible tells us that it’s in our weakness that God is able to show his greatest strengths. In those areas where we are damaged and torn that’s where He is able to do something beautiful and restorative. In Japanese art when a pot is damaged or cracked the artist will use a technique called Kintsukuroi. The broken vessel is repaired using gold to fill the cracks, making it more beautiful after it has been broken than when it was first made.
When we learn to let God into our flaws, to reach past the outward shell and touch the damaged parts he is able to restore and fill the gaps with his love. The bible tells us that God is able to heal the brokenhearted and bandages our wounds. We just have to let him.