The
statement you hear many times in the media is, “We are now a divided nation.”
The statement could give the impression that this is something new for our
nation. In fact, it is not. As we come to this holiday when we celebrate the
Declaration of Independence, one needs to consider the historic realities of
that period. The nation at that time was divided into factions. Historians tell
us that there were two dominate parties. The Patriots (a.k.a. Whigs), were those
colonists who rebelled against British control. The Loyalists (a.k.a. Tories or
Royalists) on the other hand supported continued British rule. One historian,
Robert Calhoon, suggests that between 40 - 45 % supported the Patriots' position,
between 15 - 20% supported the Loyalists, and the remainder were neutral or stayed
out of sight. Translating that percentage into the population of that day means
there were about 380,000 to 500,000 Loyalists. Interestingly enough 80,000
Loyalists left the United States to protest the direction of the nation. This
differs from protestors today who only threaten to do so.
The rest of our nation’s history reflects
great division and rancor from time to time. Think of the causes and concerns
that have divided us (i.e. slavery, women’s right to vote, resistance to
various wars, civil rights movement, right to life, and dozens of other
examples). Division that sometimes occurs within the nation appears to be the
norm, not the exception.
The reality that must be faced is not that
of division, but of the healing that needs to occur afterward. Division indeed
makes a mess in a society. How the mess is addressed is another matter. One may
just sweep the broken pieces of disagreement under the rug, or attempt to crush
the pieces into oblivion, or ignore that anything needs to be done. These
responses happen all too often. Another alternative is to take the jagged
pieces and piece them together and create something beautiful out of
brokenness.
In the Japanese culture there is an art
form called kintsugi ("golden
joinery") or kintsukuroi ("golden
repair"). Broken pottery shards are reattached to one another by mixing powdered
gold, silver, or platinum with lacquer. Beautiful seams then appear in the
restored pottery. According to Wikipedia,
“It treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than
something to disguise.” Blogger Val Jon Farris writes, “Beholding the artistry
of kintsugi one can immediately see
its transformative power. Shattered pieces of a pristine vase are artfully
rejoined with gold-laced epoxy to create a stunning masterpiece; and evoking an
intriguing question. ‘If such astounding beauty can emerge from the shards of a
shattered vase, could a similar transformation also be possible with the parts
of us we believe are shattered beyond repair?’” (www.huffingtonpost.com)
Too often we hear people in our current
political/cultural turbulence voicing doomsday declarations announcing, “We are
a nation divided beyond repair,” or “The situations we face are hopeless.”
Perhaps we need a different perspective, seeking unique solutions, relying upon
different resources, and believing Divine intervention is both possible and
necessary. With this perspective beauty can come from brokenness.
Many on July 4, 1776, saw thirteen “broken
pieces,” colonies that would be powerless to face the British superpower. In
the sweltering city of Philadelphia, men took the pieces and brought them
together and applied the “gold dust” of faith beginning with the self-evident
truths “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator
with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the
pursuit of Happiness.” They concluded with words which epoxied the declaration
together and wrote that their trust was upon “a firm reliance on the protection
of Divine Providence.” To this they willingly committed themselves to “mutually
pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.” A stunning
masterpiece was created from a rancorous and somewhat divided Second
Continental Congress.
God can do a similar thing in the broken
lives of individuals. He can take the broken pieces and fashion them into a
stunning masterpiece for His glory. He does this by His grace as people respond
by faith in what He has done and what He can do. God is in the business of
making beauty out of brokenness. The Bible describes that process in Ephesians
2:4-7. It is worth reading about and considering. God can make something beautify
even out of the broken pieces of our life!
