Today I’m reminded of beauty. Have you ever thought what life would be like if we didn’t have beauty in our midst?
Recently, a friend asked me how it was going with my photography practice. I rolled my eyes and gave a lame answer “okay” but that I was thinking to quit it altogether. I entertained thoughts like “why does it even matter”. Then she said, “But you can’t stop. We all need beauty. You have to keep going. We all need to see beauty in our lives.”
What does it mean to have beauty in our lives? What does it mean to you?
I don’t think it is just that we have nice stuff, pretty baubles, and a nice wardrobe. Or a well-manicured yard. Designer this and that. I believe beauty is much deeper than that. I believe this because it is something I yearn for. I yearn to see beauty, to smell it, to touch it and to taste it. I also yearn to hear beauty. Yes, to hear beauty. Jesus said over and over again while He taught His disciples, “He who has ears, let him hear.” I think He was saying “Let him hear the beauty I am about to say.”
In the times we are living in full of global unrest, destruction and death, beauty is needed more than ever. We need to have our senses blasted with something that is in opposition to what we are experiencing and witnessing in the world today. And I am not talking about burying our heads in the sand and ignoring what is going on around us and in the world (really, we get enough of that bombardment on a daily basis), but of seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, tasting what is good. What is true. What is bold. What is authentic. What is admirable. What is worthy. What is gentle. What is kind. All these things point to Jesus. If anything is beauty it is Jesus. Because He is all these things.
I believe Beauty is the creative side of God and I want that. When I think of beauty in the sense of what I see – walking along the seashore or wondering through the forest – beauty is always present. He is always with me there. I can observe His presence because He created it all. And He is still creating it, day by day, minute by minute. The rain falls in the forest and suddenly a new wild pink geranium begins to bloom. The waves crash on the shore, and I hear God playing the piano on the beach pebbles. An owl flies past me in the woods and I feel her wings flap the air into a slight breeze and I can observe a crystal gleam in her eye. Wondering through the woods, I can smell the aroma of God – it’s Him! I can smell the ferns and the flowers and the leaves – all mixed together in the beauty of it all. The aroma of a Father who loves us so much He continues to create for us a stunning world to live in.
Yes, there is much destruction taking place. There is tremendous broken heartedness taking place. There is so much sadness. But if we dwell there too long, we lose the beauty of the day.
Can I encourage you dear friend, to find another way to live today? Even for a moment, seek for the beauty that surrounds you.
It could mean gazing out your backyard window at the mountains set before you. It could mean making a tasty meal for your family. It could mean strumming your guitar in worship to the One created it all. It might mean taking a nature walk. It might mean being in silence for a few minutes, resting, and listening.