Broken & Marvelous

A thousand years before Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling stroke by stroke, unnamed Byzantine artists painstakingly laid hundreds of thousand pieces of mosaic tiles covering the walls and ceiling of Hagia Sophia with astonishing images of Christ, saints, angels, and emperors. Mosaic arts have been a prominent aesthetic expression of Christian faith and spirituality since the sixth century.

Traditionally, the raw materials of mosaic tiles are broken pieces of stone, glass, and ceramic. Usually, a broken piece on its own would have no value and would be destined for disposal. And sometimes, when we are on our own, we feel we are broken too. It seems as if the burdens of life have smashed us to smithereens and blown us into nothingness. In those desperate hours, we feel like we are also destined for disposal. We feel worthless and do not seem to matter.

Like an artist, God gathers our broken pieces together, sorts them according to colour, size, and shape, crimps the pieces to suitable forms, and arranges them in various patterns to create a work of art. Artists apply the tiles according to their visions and plans. Gradually, decorative plates, murals, or even the ceiling of Hagia Sophia are created. In the same way, God forms us into His handiwork and destines us to radiate His glory and grace. He transforms a community of broken people into a community of God’s people. We are masterpieces, fearfully and wonderfully made. We matter.