Repairing and restoring are very different to my mind. Repair seems to be more about function. Something is broken and needs fixing for it to work again. Restoring is more thoughtful. It is bringing something back to itself, to its original essence. We need both restoring and repairing, and we need the discernment to know the difference. This seems especially crucial now in our civic life. And often that needed change begins in our personal lives.
Phrases posted on Facebook, February 2018
“As good as new”, we might hear when something is repaired. But in restoration a new wholeness emerges which must include the history of past damage. The truth is the truth. We see this in the Japanese art of Kintsugi where broken pottery is limned at the breaks with gold or silver. The history of what happened to the pot is there in bold outline, and we also see the original beauty of the pot. May we be restored this way and be made more beautiful than before.
The paradox in deepening a spiritual life is that, on the one hand we need to repair the rifts we have with other people and with ourselves, and on the other hand we need to be restored by resting in Spirit without any intentions or goals except to dwell in our Source.
What seems to need frequent repair is our habit of feeling separate, unworthy or otherwise distanced from the fundamental Love that is the basis of being. Engaging in meditation is a repair process that helps us face what we do with our false thinking. But restoration is only a breath away from simply accepting that we are already beloved beyond imagining.
When I think of the two R’s–repair and restoration, I believe there is a third, namely receiving. Repair to my mind is more mechanical. It focuses on what is wrong and needs fixing. Restoration is about supporting what is already healthy and good so that more good can grow and increase. Think of an ailing plant, for instance. Repair would be about removing any dead material or repotting the plant. Restoration would be about supporting the aliveness inherent in the plant. But the key to it all is receiving. Without that, the first two R’s are useless.
Bringing things together through speech and action is at the heart of repair. Infusing with life, nourishment, presence and consistency is at the heart of restoration. Taking the risk to open and trust the love and actions of others is at the heart of receiving. Guess we can never skip seeing what is at the heart of things.
If we believe that all things have a consciousness of sorts, and that everything is connected to everything else, then to help repair what needs repair and has a chance of being repaired is spiritual practice. Ignoring things that are ours to rescue is the disregard of our oneness. Thinking this way helps me to do things I don’t necessarily love doing. It puts a better spirit in doing what needs doing.
Destruction as impatience, entitlement, propaganda, hatred and every other excuse to forget we are ultimately hitched to everything else can happen in a moment. Repair will take life times. Restoration may perhaps take centuries. If we hold this understanding in our daily lives we can’t help but remember that we are one and take the steps that are ours to take.
At the core of each of us is a pure innocence we came into life with. It is an eternal spark that, no matter what we do or don’t do, still remains in tact somewhere buried in all our levels of socialization and life experiences. Do you suppose that when we stumble forward on dark nights of the soul, innocent lights–firefly signals, somehow light the path, and we find by going where we need to go?
Repair. Restore. Repeat. Receive. Repair. Restore. Repeat. Receive. It seems that getting over anything difficult in our lives has a lot of “re words” until miraculously we get to REJOICE.
