2. Beauty Around Us
Reading: Luke 12:22-31
“Consider the lilies . . . even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.”
Charles Kingsley wrote: "Beauty is God's handwriting . . . welcome it in every fair face, every fair sky, every fair flower."
Yes, there are many sad and ugly things in the world. We need to be realistic about that. But God has surrounded us with beauty on every side. We are given the choice of concentrating on sordidness or beauty. When we concentrate our attention on all that is ugly in life, a day will come when we are blind to the beautiful.
The natural world is one source of beauty. Cloud formations, raindrops, snow, flowering shrubs, leafy trees, snow-capped mountains, sparkling lakes, and so much more from our love letters from God.
To some of us, God has given the gift of creating beauty. Artists, sculptors, architects, dancers, musicians, and composers add to the world's store of beauty. We are moved by soaring cathedrals whose towers reach toward heaven. Beethoven's Ode to Joy has become a favorite hymn of thousands of Christians.
God's love letters of beauty give us many messages. They speak of glory, of strength, of protection, of permanence. If the inanimate things of nature are given such love, how much more does God care about us. God is on the side of beauty.
For Reflection: Where do I see God's gift of beauty?
A Prayer Seed:
For the beauty of the earth, for the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth over and around us lies,
Lord of all, to Thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.
Folliott Sandford Pierpoint, 1864
