He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3
Cheri’s mother loved her teacups. She also loved Cheri, although her own brokenness kept her from communicating that love to her daughter.
Search the world’s religions and see if you’ll find any other deity who proclaims of himself, “I am the Lord, who heals you” (Exodus 15:26 NIV). It’s a bold statement made by the God of the Bible that, as scripture shows us, applies to bodies, minds and hearts. We know that God cares about sick physical bodies because His son, Jesus, spent a lot of time healing them while He was here on earth. But did you know that the Bible also tells us that “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds”? (Psalm 147:3)
The ancient Japanese artform of Kintsugi gives us a picture of beauty in the way that God heals broken hearts. In Kintsugi, broken ceramics are repaired using a special tree sap lacquer dusted with powdered gold or precious metals. Sometimes a mended bowl, cup or plate are missing pieces. Cheri’s mother had passed away when Cheri brought one of her mother’s broken teacups to a Kintsugi class. Soon, the cup was mended, with seams that glowed golden, yet a small hole remained.
“The wounds, the fractures become… the way God’s gold…[flows] into the world,”[1] explains renowned artist Mako Fujimoto. To Cheri and to us, “Jesus says, “I will cover it. I will heal it and I will let you know that I am there.” Cheri’s now beautiful cup declares that it’s not about fixing what is broken, but about making something new. Mended cups and mended hearts are even more valuable than the originals, because of the artist’s loving, sacrificial investment in the piece.
[1] Kintsugi Peace Making, Academy Kintsugi, private video showing, February 2023.
