Priceless and Precious Scars - Episode 23 Transcript

I’m going to start this episode off a little different than usual – and I’m also going to offer a head’s-up as well as an apology. In a moment I’m going to play a little micro-interview I did with our grandson while he was over this weekend. That’s the head’s up. The apology is this – trying to get a 7-year-old to stand close to a microphone, while also staying engaged in not looking at the sound bars on the recording software adds up to HORRIBLE audio! You will have to turn your volume up for this next part, but I think you will find yourself smiling and it will fit perfectly into the rest of the episode. Also, when you hear it coming to an end, I will give enough time for you to turn your volume back down so the return to my voice won’t cause hearing damage!

With that, here is my mini-interview with Liam.

Ok…there you have it – a horribly produce interview with a 7-year-old little boy who would have rather been out with his Pops watching videos about how to play Mine Craft! Alas, he indulged me, and my favorite answer was to the question of what he wanted to be when he grows up. A Mailman. When I asked him that question earlier in the day is said because being a mailman was like delivery love just like Jesus. I had the goofiest grin on my face when he said that on our way to get his new backpack. – and just about floated through Target on that answer alone!

You might be asking yourself what in the world could the title of this episode, ‘priceless and precious scars, and the sweet answers of a child have to do with one another. Well, in my life, they have a lot to do with one another. Now, how I transition this is going to be the tricky part!

You may know me personally, or you may know me through social media, or you may know me through the recommendation of a friend. However you know me, you have no doubt heard part of my story by way of this podcast, another podcast or the direct telling from me or someone you know. One thing that is consistent in my story is that there are a lot of scars. And I don’t even have to know you to know that you have a lot of scars in your life as well. They are simply part of the brokenness of human life in this world we live in.

The connection I drew from my conversation with Liam, and you could draw the same from conversations with children in your life, is that there isn’t one of us who starts our dreams of life – those “when I grow up, I want to (fill in the blank” dreams – with the thought that they will be interrupted by wounds and scarring. That we will be redirected by other people’s poor choices, and more often, by our own poor decisions. And what will be left behind will be a tangible scar. May of those scars we will want to hide from the world. We will deem them ugly and unredeemable – relegating them to a dark corner of our hearts and minds.

Here’s the thing though, scars tell a story. In my life, and maybe in yours, they tell a story of how God redeems broken things.

I’m going to take you on a small art history tangent really quick.

There was a Japanese shogun who broke one of his most favorite tea bowls. He was extreme upset and sent it away to China to be repaired. Now this was back in the late 1300s, so its not like there was UPS or FedEx – this pottery had to travel by horse, then by ship, then by courier and back again after the repair. Upon the return of the bowl the shogun was so upset to find that he had been ‘fixed’ with ugly metal staples to join the broken pieces. He gave his craftsmen the task of finding a more appropriate (and watertight) way of repairing broken pottery. What these craftsmen came up with didn’t simply fix the pottery, and it didn’t hide away the damage, but it took the scars of the broken pieces and made art from it. This was the creation of the art of Kintsugi.

When translated, kintsugi means golden joinery. It is the art of taking broken earthenware (or pottery) and using gold, silver, or platinum to join the broken pieces back together. The finished piece is not uglier because it has been broken, it is more beautiful because of its scars. This art has now become a part of the Japanese culture.

Another aspect of Japanese culture, that of wabi-sabi. This is the belief that there is beauty in every aspect of imperfection in nature. The word wabi connotes the artful anomalies -- the uneven lines, the crooked timbers -- that arise from the process of natural construction.  Sabi suggests the unexpected beauty of decay -- the frayed edges, the earthy patinas that come with age. Together, these two expressions point to the common condition of all living things. Finite. Frayed. And far from perfect.

A few episodes back I shared a little about our son’s fight, and eventual loss, with cancer. And, if you follow me on social media, you may have listened to the interview I did over at Living the Reclaimed Life about the start of my son’s life. These 2 parts of my story were big, huge, giant scars. Scars created by circumstances out of my control. I was broken be these events. And, from my human perspective, I was broken beyond repair.

But God.

But God is the gold and the silver and the platinum that has put me, and is putting me, back together. My scars are where his precious and priceless grace shines in my life for others to see. The scars of our broken family are truly signs of life after the storm.

And so, back to the interview of the 7-year-old little man. In many ways, I see him as the gold in our broken family pottery. For the Rocket Scientist and me, his laughter, his funny phrases and insight, and his dreams, those are where God mixes in gold and creates art worthy of a showcase out of our scars.

You see whether it is God’s own kintsugi making beauty from ashes or his own version wabi-sabi on display in the roughhewn grace of our lives, don’t hide away the broken pieces. Your scars, our scars, they are priceless and precious. Even when they aren’t fully healed, they are still worthy of bringing into the light and showing others that being broken doesn’t mean we are useless and ugly. Being broken means that we are an incredible canvas for The Artist to create a masterpiece!

Ok, so I’m not sure this episode landed anywhere close to the mark I was shooting for – but I tried! I hope you got some blessing from it and a reminder that you are not done simply because you have scars. You are a beautiful example of the grace and mercy of God – the Creator of creators!

I’m wrapping up 3 more solo episodes for the remaining weeks of Season 1. It is crazy to think that we will begin Season 2 in September. Yesterday I recorded some amazing interviews with incredible people. In the coming weeks I have several more interviews lined up. Season 2 is going to be amazing!

I’m so glad you are listening and reading and taking this journey with me. And until next time, go out and find a creative way to make someone smile.

Photo by Riho Kitagawa on Unsplash