Friday, August 5, 2011

Thanks


The other morning my brother and I took a drive inland.  It was early and we were quiet, which is good – silence is better for looking.  Taking the opportunity to practice my observational skills, I began to look intently at the land as it passed by.  My eyes widening and squinting, comparing, drawing in my mind, searching fixedly for colors hidden in the mountains, hills, and trees, we eventually approached a hillside of many colors.  The green vestiges of spring still clung in swatches encroached upon by the widening amber gold of summer. 

I thought about having lived here for most of my life and never really appreciating how beautiful this place is.  My focus panned out to see the hill in the context of its surrounding mountains speckled with oaks, and I realized that God had tailored that moment of beauty specifically for me.  His artistry was on exhibit and would be all day long in separate unique showings for all those who were to pass by that day. 

Naturally, I thought to thank Him for the privilege and joy of seeing His work.  So I did, offering up a silent prayer of gratitude, but it seemed like awfully insufficient thanks.  How could I possibly pay Him back?  Of course, I quickly answered myself with, “Well, you can’t and He doesn’t ask you to.”  It’s free – all of it.  Free hill, free mountains, free beauty, free life, free grace.  He doesn’t require anything of us.  Yet, there is one thing He asks that we surrender to Him.

As I reflected on the beautiful scene displayed to me that day, I stumbled upon one of those wonderful truthy paradoxes of faith.  It was simple, and it was as beautiful as that hill.  It was that God doesn’t ask us to pay Him anything.  He just asks that we give Him everything.  It does my soul well to know that I can give my everything to Him, not as payment, but as thanks.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Beauty


I think it is fitting that my first post should include the following quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson, from which the title of this blog is inspired:

Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful; for beauty is God's handwriting - a wayside sacrament.  Welcome it in every fair face, in every fair sky, in every fair flower, and thank God for it as a cup of blessing. 

As I have grown in my faith and increased in sensitivity as an artist, I find myself with a greater and greater appreciation for things beautiful.  It’s something to be expected of anyone who is doing likewise, really, whether they are maturing as a believer or progressing as an artist, but especially if they are doing both. 

I use the term “artist” here in the strict sense of the word, but also more loosely, for I’m a firm believer that we are all artists in one way or another.  That sounds rather ‘artsy’ of me you might say, cliché even.  However it sounds, I do believe it’s true.  In fact, I believe that our creative drive as humans is one of the most powerful ways in which we bear the image of God. 

Scripture starts off with, “In the beginning God created…”  The first thing God tells us about Himself is that He is an artist; He made things, and not just for practicality’s sake.  Genesis 2:9 reads, “And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.”  God made the trees to be eaten but also to be admired for their beauty.  He’s interested in our aesthetic experience of His creation.  That’s just cool.

It’s a shame that we so often pass up opportunities to enjoy the handiwork of God.  That neglect ranges from things as simple as ignoring the sight of a brilliant skyscape because we are late for this or that to things of a more complex nature such as passing up the opportunity to invest in someone, and get to know who they really are.  As for me, I desire to become more skillful at recognizing these opportunities and enjoying them.  I want to be a professional taste-tester, picking up on those subtle nuances as I taste and see that the Lord is good.  What a way to live.

And so, I return to the words of Emerson.  I take them to heart gladly.  May we see and give thanks for the beauty and add to it ourselves, because we were made as more than eyes, but hands and feet also.  What a beautiful thing it is that the Creator of the universe has given us the opportunity to take part in His masterwork.  May our lives be rich with wayside sacraments – outward testaments to the beauty of inward grace, as inns bring light, rest, and refuge to weary travelers on dark roads.