I recently learned a bit about an old Japanese art form known as Kintsugi - the repairing and mending of broken and damaged pottery. It’s kind of like putting the broken pieces back together like a puzzle — fitting the pieces together and then putting a protective coat over them to seal them together. Only in Kintsugi, this sealing is done with lacquer mixed with gold - and the results are amazing. The name itself means “golden joinery." Pieces repaired by Kintsugi will stay in families, or even museums for generations.
As an art form, Kintsugi values the history of something that has been broken and then restored or made whole again, not to hide the breakage, but to emphasis it. The repaired piece contains both the remembrance of what has been before and what is now.
What results from piecing together broken pottery with gold are objects that are not only more valuable, but more beautiful than they were before. Every break is covered, and the surface is highlighted with veins of gold. You can see the places where the bowl or dish was once vulnerable, but now, instead of seeing brokenness, you see wholeness, completion.
Pottery is fragile and once broken it cannot be placed back on the potters wheel to be fixed. It must be healed only by the master and in the healing the pottery’s brokenness makes it even more beautiful.
I share this is as a gospel analogy - and that analogy can be found in Ether 12:27 - And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.
In the Old Testament, Job, who knows a bit about being broken, stated - But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
Christ’s Atonement acts like those golden seams in the repaired pottery. When broken and weak, the Savior holds the pieces in His hands and He puts them back together, one by one. He is the only person who not only chooses to look past our cracks and forgive them, but only He can fix them. His Atonement is the gold that lines and covers our brokenness and restores us and makes us whole and complete.
I have a testimony, gained by experience, learning and faith, that “through the atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel." We know that as the 3rd Article of Faith, and I find the wording to be very interesting. I’ve always believed that thru obedience to the laws, or commandments, that the atonement would have an affect on my efforts. Now, using the distributive property on that phrase, we can say that obedience to the laws and obedience to the ordinances of the Gospel allows the Atonement to save us. Obedience to the Ordinances. This a concept I had not considered. We had the chance to take part in the ordinance of the Sacrament a few moments ago, and the Priests prayed that we would “take upon us the name of Christ, always remember him and keep his commandments.” In turn, thru that ordinance we were promised that if we are obedient, “the Lord’s Spirit would always be with us.” This is a powerful promise, made possible only through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. The Atonement will not only allow us to repent and gain a forgiveness of our sins, but the Atonement of Jesus Christ will also allow us to become better people, better husbands and wives, better fathers and mothers, better friends and neighbors, better Saints.
Elder Bednar stated that - Not only does the Atonement of Jesus Christ overcome the effects of the Fall of Adam and make possible the remission of our individual sins and transgressions, but His Atonement also enables us to do good and become better in ways that stretch far beyond our mortal capacities.
His comment lists 3 things the Atonement does - it allows us to overcome both Spiritual and Temporal death, brought about by Adams Fall, we are able to receive forgiveness for our own personal sins and transgressions, and we are able to do more and be better than we could on our own. That is amazing and wonderful…..
Jesus’s atoning sacrifice took place in both the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross at Calvary. In Gethsemane He submitted His will to the will of the Father and began to take upon Himself the sins of all people. He said:
“I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent.”
On the cross, He allowed Himself to die. His body was then laid in a tomb until He was resurrected. Through His death and Resurrection, He overcame physical death for us all. He later said:
Last week, Sister [A.] bore her testimony that the “Atonement is what it is all about.” I call that the Hokey-Pokey Principle - cause that’s what it’s all about! Repentance is not a Plan B or backup plan just in case our plan to live perfectly fails. Repentance is not just for big sins but is a daily process of evaluation and improvement that helps us to overcome our sins, our imperfections, our weaknesses, our cracks and flaws, and our inadequacies. Living perfectly is not the plan. That was Satan’s plan. We sometimes equate perfect to mean “flawless” - but another definition of perfect or perfection is “finished” or “complete” - and that fits nicely with my new understanding of Kintsugi. Repentance is the plan - made possible only by the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
Elder Boyd K. Packer has said that there is no habit, no addiction, no rebellion, no transgression, no apostasy, no crime exempted from the promise of complete forgiveness. That is the promise of the atonement of Christ.
As Latter-day Saints, we know Christ and His Atonement are the source of all/all spiritual blessings. As King Benjamin taught, “There shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ” (Mosiah 3:17).
I know that through the atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and obedience to the ordinances of the Gospel. On this Easter Sunday, I give thanks to our Father and His Son for the Atonement and the knowledge I have of it through the restored gospel.
As an art form, Kintsugi values the history of something that has been broken and then restored or made whole again, not to hide the breakage, but to emphasis it. The repaired piece contains both the remembrance of what has been before and what is now.
What results from piecing together broken pottery with gold are objects that are not only more valuable, but more beautiful than they were before. Every break is covered, and the surface is highlighted with veins of gold. You can see the places where the bowl or dish was once vulnerable, but now, instead of seeing brokenness, you see wholeness, completion.
Pottery is fragile and once broken it cannot be placed back on the potters wheel to be fixed. It must be healed only by the master and in the healing the pottery’s brokenness makes it even more beautiful.
I share this is as a gospel analogy - and that analogy can be found in Ether 12:27 - And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.
In the Old Testament, Job, who knows a bit about being broken, stated - But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
Christ’s Atonement acts like those golden seams in the repaired pottery. When broken and weak, the Savior holds the pieces in His hands and He puts them back together, one by one. He is the only person who not only chooses to look past our cracks and forgive them, but only He can fix them. His Atonement is the gold that lines and covers our brokenness and restores us and makes us whole and complete.
I have a testimony, gained by experience, learning and faith, that “through the atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel." We know that as the 3rd Article of Faith, and I find the wording to be very interesting. I’ve always believed that thru obedience to the laws, or commandments, that the atonement would have an affect on my efforts. Now, using the distributive property on that phrase, we can say that obedience to the laws and obedience to the ordinances of the Gospel allows the Atonement to save us. Obedience to the Ordinances. This a concept I had not considered. We had the chance to take part in the ordinance of the Sacrament a few moments ago, and the Priests prayed that we would “take upon us the name of Christ, always remember him and keep his commandments.” In turn, thru that ordinance we were promised that if we are obedient, “the Lord’s Spirit would always be with us.” This is a powerful promise, made possible only through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. The Atonement will not only allow us to repent and gain a forgiveness of our sins, but the Atonement of Jesus Christ will also allow us to become better people, better husbands and wives, better fathers and mothers, better friends and neighbors, better Saints.
Elder Bednar stated that - Not only does the Atonement of Jesus Christ overcome the effects of the Fall of Adam and make possible the remission of our individual sins and transgressions, but His Atonement also enables us to do good and become better in ways that stretch far beyond our mortal capacities.
His comment lists 3 things the Atonement does - it allows us to overcome both Spiritual and Temporal death, brought about by Adams Fall, we are able to receive forgiveness for our own personal sins and transgressions, and we are able to do more and be better than we could on our own. That is amazing and wonderful…..
Jesus’s atoning sacrifice took place in both the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross at Calvary. In Gethsemane He submitted His will to the will of the Father and began to take upon Himself the sins of all people. He said:
“I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent.”
On the cross, He allowed Himself to die. His body was then laid in a tomb until He was resurrected. Through His death and Resurrection, He overcame physical death for us all. He later said:
“I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me.
“And for this cause have I been lifted up; therefore, according to the power of the Father I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their works.
“And it shall come to pass, that whoso repenteth and is baptized in my name shall be filled; and if he endureth to the end, behold, him will I hold guiltless before my Father at that day when I shall stand to judge the world”The blessings of the Savior’s Atonement will extend throughout eternity, but those blessings also come in this life. As we become true Christians, we will know the joy of being clean before the Lord. We will be able to give the same testimony as Alma, who, after much sin and rebellion, experienced the healing process of repentance. After he had been forgiven, he testified:
“I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.
“And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!
“… There could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. … On the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy.The Atonement does not take effect once we’ve achieved our goal of becoming like the Savior, but rather, the very moment when we choose to repent, we immediately invite the Savior into our lives. At the very moment we decide to change, the Atonement begins to work for our good, and we can lay claim to the promised blessings it offers - even in our less-than-perfect, or cracked and broken state.
Last week, Sister [A.] bore her testimony that the “Atonement is what it is all about.” I call that the Hokey-Pokey Principle - cause that’s what it’s all about! Repentance is not a Plan B or backup plan just in case our plan to live perfectly fails. Repentance is not just for big sins but is a daily process of evaluation and improvement that helps us to overcome our sins, our imperfections, our weaknesses, our cracks and flaws, and our inadequacies. Living perfectly is not the plan. That was Satan’s plan. We sometimes equate perfect to mean “flawless” - but another definition of perfect or perfection is “finished” or “complete” - and that fits nicely with my new understanding of Kintsugi. Repentance is the plan - made possible only by the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
Elder Boyd K. Packer has said that there is no habit, no addiction, no rebellion, no transgression, no apostasy, no crime exempted from the promise of complete forgiveness. That is the promise of the atonement of Christ.
As Latter-day Saints, we know Christ and His Atonement are the source of all/all spiritual blessings. As King Benjamin taught, “There shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ” (Mosiah 3:17).
I know that through the atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and obedience to the ordinances of the Gospel. On this Easter Sunday, I give thanks to our Father and His Son for the Atonement and the knowledge I have of it through the restored gospel.
Brother G.
April 2017
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