by Cindy Walker Burton

How can you mend a broken heart?

How can you stop the rain from falling down?

How can you stop the sun from shining?

What makes the world go ‘round?”

These melancholy lyrics are from the 1971 Bee Gees song, “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart.” Listening to that classic tune provoked me to ponder brokenness, and not just proverbial broken hearts.

We live in a broken world. Therefore, we have all collectively been broken somehow in some way by someone or something. Brokenness does not discriminate or hesitate. It penetrates and resonates. It divides and blindsides. It defines and realigns. No one is exempt from broken promises, broken dreams, broken relationships, or broken health.

However, brokenness isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be. Broken promises can forge forgiveness. Broken dreams can birth new aspirations. Broken relationships can dissolve and evolve into new ones. Broken health can force necessary lifestyle changes and refocus priorities. Viewed through a realistic lens, brokenness may be a life sentence, but it’s not a death sentence.

Human imperfections born from brokenness can be compared to a broken mirror. The once smooth, reflective surface of the mirror is shattered into jagged pieces with sharp edges. It requires caution and care when handled. So too must we handle our broken selves (and others) with requisite care to avoid being cut on life’s sharp edges. Doesn’t it make perfect sense that God uses broken people to help broken people?

The ancient Japanese art of kintsugi tells the story of repairing broken pottery with gold to highlight the cracks rather than hide them. This symbolizes finding the beauty in imperfection, and the idea that something can be even more valuable when repaired.

Every broken person is an imperfect work of art that is valuable. Our shared brokenness is our shared sameness. Author Julie Ann Walker said, “The light only truly shines through people who have been broken.” Let your light shine through your brokenness.