Crushed and Beautiful 破碎之美
Dexu Xia
My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart. Psalm 51:17
At first glance I dismissed the painting Consider the Lilies by Makoto Fujimura as a simple, monochromatic painting featuring a lily seemingly hiding in the background. However, the painting came alive when I learned it was actually painted with more than eighty layers of finely crushed minerals in a style of Japanese art known as Nihonga, a style Fujimura calls “slow art.” Looking closely reveals layers of complexity and beauty. Fujimura explains that he sees the gospel echoed in the technique of making “beauty through brokenness,” just as Jesus’ suffering brought the world wholeness and hope.
God loves to take aspects of our lives where we’ve been crushed and broken and create something new and beautiful. King David needed God’s help to repair the brokenness in his life caused by his own devastating actions. In Psalm 51, written after admitting to abusing his kingly power to take another man’s wife and arrange the murder of her husband, David offered God his “broken and contrite heart” (v. 17) and pleaded for mercy. The Hebrew word translated “contrite” is nidkeh, meaning “crushed.”
For God to refashion his heart (v. 10), David had to first offer Him the broken pieces. It was both an admission of sorrow and trust. David entrusted his heart to a faithful and forgiving God, who lovingly takes what’s been crushed and transforms it into something beautiful.
What parts of your heart are crushed? How might you entrust your brokenness to God?
Dear God, I entrust my brokenness to You, believing that in Your time, You’ll transform it into something truly beautiful.
上帝所要的祭，就是忧伤的灵。⋯⋯忧伤痛悔的心。—诗篇51篇17节
初见日本画家藤村真的画作《看那百合花》时，我瞥了一眼便将它置之脑后，觉得那不过是简单且色彩单调的一幅画，画作的中心是一朵似乎隐藏在背景内的百合花。然而，在得知这幅画是用八十多层被压碎的矿物碎片制作而成后，我马上改观了。这种绘画技巧就是日本著名的胶彩画技术，也被藤村真称为“慢艺术”，因为只有仔细观察画作，才可以看到层层叠叠的繁复之美。藤村真表示，这种“透过破碎创造美好”的技法与福音相呼应，因为正是耶稣的受苦，才给这世界带来美好和盼望。
上帝乐意用我们生命中被压碎破损的碎片，重新创作出崭新且美好的事物。大卫王需要上帝为他修复其罪恶行为所造成的破碎生命。大卫在承认自己滥用王权、抢夺人妻，并设计谋害人夫之后，写了诗篇51篇。在诗中，大卫向上帝献上“忧伤痛悔的心”（17节），恳求上帝施恩。这里翻译为“痛悔”的希伯来文，意思就是“破碎”。
若大卫要上帝重塑他的心（10节），就须先将自己生命中破碎的部分献给上帝，为所犯的罪忧伤，并表达对上帝的信靠。大卫将自己的心交给那位信实且乐意饶恕的上帝，而上帝慈爱地用这些破碎的部分，变成美好的事物。
你的心有哪些部分已经破碎？
你要如何将这些破碎的部分交给上帝？
天父，我将自己生命中的破碎交给祢，
相信祢会在祢所定的时刻，将其转化为美好的事物。