Perhaps last week you were able to catch some of Ken Burns’ special on PBS entitled “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea.” One comment by a writer really caught my attention: “Beauty is the lubrication for the soul.” Certainly, when seeing the majestic views and outstanding vistas of landscape one is moved to a transcendent experience of beauty.
For centuries philosophers have tried to pursue and define the good, the beautiful and the true. The Bible has something to say about what is beautiful. In his search for the good life “under the sun,” King Solomon recognized that “God has made everything beautiful in its time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). This is a rather interesting observation because there is indeed an element of timing in describing what is beautiful. Think of a beautiful baby, think of a beautiful sunset-our perception of their beauty changes quickly in a short time.
Jesus warned against the sham and hypocrisy of trying to make everything look beautiful on the outside while the inside was rotten: “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean”(Matthew 23:27).
It seems that there are two legitimate kinds of beauty: one emanates from within a person, and the other is an appreciation for God’s creation. Our progressive society has gotten it all turned around: beauty is ascribed to the outward person, and God’s creation is often overlooked.
Think of how beauty is the lubrication for our soul: music, art, poetry, imagination, a sunset, a rainbow, the spirit of gentleness, the spirit of forgiveness, the spirit of love, etc. The apostle Paul put the highest compliment on those who share the Good News as having “beautiful feet.” In the ancient world, a herald would run from battle field to city with the beautiful news of victory.
May our daily words be the beautiful Good News of victory in Jesus! May we recognize that God has made everything beautiful in its time! May we recognize the beauty in every person’s spirit! May we allow the beauty of the moment, the experience and the person to lubricate our souls!
In Christian Love, Curtis
For centuries philosophers have tried to pursue and define the good, the beautiful and the true. The Bible has something to say about what is beautiful. In his search for the good life “under the sun,” King Solomon recognized that “God has made everything beautiful in its time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). This is a rather interesting observation because there is indeed an element of timing in describing what is beautiful. Think of a beautiful baby, think of a beautiful sunset-our perception of their beauty changes quickly in a short time.
Jesus warned against the sham and hypocrisy of trying to make everything look beautiful on the outside while the inside was rotten: “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean”(Matthew 23:27).
It seems that there are two legitimate kinds of beauty: one emanates from within a person, and the other is an appreciation for God’s creation. Our progressive society has gotten it all turned around: beauty is ascribed to the outward person, and God’s creation is often overlooked.
Think of how beauty is the lubrication for our soul: music, art, poetry, imagination, a sunset, a rainbow, the spirit of gentleness, the spirit of forgiveness, the spirit of love, etc. The apostle Paul put the highest compliment on those who share the Good News as having “beautiful feet.” In the ancient world, a herald would run from battle field to city with the beautiful news of victory.
May our daily words be the beautiful Good News of victory in Jesus! May we recognize that God has made everything beautiful in its time! May we recognize the beauty in every person’s spirit! May we allow the beauty of the moment, the experience and the person to lubricate our souls!
In Christian Love, Curtis
