Being a Mosaic: Beauty for Brokenness

I love mosaics – defined as “decorative designs made by setting small colored pieces, as of stone or tile, into a surface; or the process or art of making such pictures or designs.” As I began researching mosaics for a book I am writing, I discovered just how long they’ve been around. The ancient Sumerians first developed the technique of making mosaics around 3000 B.C.

I love mosaics – defined as “decorative designs made by setting small colored pieces, as of stone or tile, into a surface; or the process or art of making such pictures or designs.” As I began researching mosaics for a book I am writing, I discovered just how long they’ve been around. The ancient Sumerians first developed the technique of making mosaics around 3000 B.C. in Mesopotamia (now Iraq). The Egyptians and the Greeks adopted the technique, and later, the Romans created even more elaborate mosaic designs by cutting pieces of colored stone and glass into specific shapes to fit into the larger pattern they were making.

In a mosaic, the artist arranges pieces of cut or broken stone or tile, called tesserae, to create a decorative pattern. We may struggle to grasp the overall design of a mosaic when we’re looking at the individual pieces up close. All we see are broken pieces. But when we step back far enough to view the entire mosaic, we get a new perspective, and we can see the intricate beauty of the finished masterpiece. And that enables us to grasp the original intent of the artist.

Recently, I read an interview with the environmentalist Terry Tempest Williams, author of the book Finding Beauty in a Broken World. She writes, “Shards of glass can cut and wound or magnify a vision. Mosaic celebrates brokenness and the beauty of being brought together.”

This concept of “beauty for brokenness” reflects the biblical truth of isaiah 61:3: God will bestow on us “a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” No matter your pain today, God will give you beauty for ashes. He can use our hurts as a platform for us to share God’s truth with a lost and dying world. He will use our testimony to “magnify our vision” and empower us to tell people the reason for our hope in Jesus Christ. Our spiritual lives are mosaics, made up of a bunch of broken, eclectic pieces and experiences that God combines to create a beautiful whole. Which pieces of your personal history might be an encouragement to someone in your life today?