As we were preparing for our trip, Susan and I became aware of a Japanese art form called Kintsugi. Broken china is glued back together with gold, and it becomes a beautiful work of art, plus it's stronger than before. If you look it up, you will find it's very spendy. So...I thought this would make a great object lesson and wouldn't be that hard to do. Uh huh. I bought a kit with the (fake) gold and glue and charged ahead. Uh huh. Picture me at the kitchen counter with a hammer. First one was not repairable. The second one was a mess, plus the counter was now gold. Broke the third plate and it exploded and covered the kitchen with tiny shards of glass. FINALLY, I got a cup to break so thought I could put it back together. I fit it all together and squeezed out the epoxy and added the gold powder, at which point I flipped the paper plate, and I had gold dust everywhere. Try again. And again. Now I have cup that is misaligned and covered with gold fingerprints. THERE IS A REASON IT IS CALLED AN ART FORM! The real thing is beautiful, strong and valuable. Lesson: we are all broken. But if we allow God to put us back together with His glue of grace, mercy, love, salvation---the list is endless---we become a work of art. We are valuable. In fact, we are PRICELESS! And from my attempt to "create" art, I know we can't put ourselves back together with any amount of success.
Above is my pathetic attempt at "art", while Susan's cup shows a purchased professional look. You get the idea.
Susan used this illustration to show the women that even if we have had horrible lives, God can put us back together and make us more valuable than we were originally. She also demonstrated forgiveness by putting a bag around her neck and filling it with rocks. Each rock representing someone she couldn't forgive. The heavier the load became, the harder it was to function. Then as she forgave, she removed each rock. Unforgiveness is a heavy load and it can break us. I think they got it as several came forward to participate. The things they have to forgive are massive. Rape, murder, being shunned by family, having loved ones killed....I can't imagine.
I gave my little talk too. It's interesting to have everything interpreted as you go. It limits your ability to use verbal expression, or in my case arm waving, and feels very scripted. You say a few words or a sentence and then wait for it to be repeated. But thank God for both Bella and Joan. They have been indispensable.
There are so many things we take for granted. Yesterday, I left for a moment to use the restroom. When I came out, Bella was standing by the door. I guess we don't go anywhere alone, even to the bathroom without an escort. And bathrooms are interesting. The have no toilet paper in them. You have to request some before you head out. The things we take for granted!! And, being 100% American, I brought ice cube trays with me. They don't serve drinks with ice. Outside of coke, ice is my next vice.
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