"There is always room for beauty ... room for another rose." -- Florence E. Coates.
In the beginning, God created a multitude of universes. Then God filled the empty space with suns and moon and stars. God filled the earth with a myriad variety of plants and shrubs and trees, a myriad of animals and birds and fish, and people of every shape and shade. Looking out over all He had created, God said: "Wow! This is really good! I've created a world of wonder and beauty -- I'll call it Eden, Paradise, Heaven!" We live in a world of beauty if only we could see it! Lord God, give us eyes to "see"!
"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." One person can look at a dandelion and see a pesky weed; another can look at the same dandelion and see a beautiful flower. One person can look at a physically unattractive person and see someone to shun; another can see the same person and see someone of worth, someone to love. We "see" what we want to see. We "see" what we've been taught to see. It all depends on what we're looking for! There is beauty all around us if only we could see it! Lord God, give us eyes to "see"!
"For the beauty of the earth, For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth over and around us lies.
For the wonder of each hour of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale and tree and flower, sun and moon and stars of light.
For the joy of human love, brother, sister, parent, child;
Friends on earth and friends above, for all gentle thoughts and mild.
Christ our God to Thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise!" -- Folliott Pierpont
Folliott Pierpont penned these words at the age of 29 years, in the late Spring, sitting in the yard of his home in Bath, England.
Looking over the lush green countryside and over the Avon River, Pierpont marveled at the beauty of God's creation. Pierpont reminds us of the beauties of our physical world; he reminds us of the beauty of our relationships with family and friends; he reminds us of the goodness and greatness of Almighty God.
There is beauty all around us; if only we could see it!
Something beautiful, Something good,
All my confusion He understood;
All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife,
God made something beautiful of my life!" -- Gloria Gaither
Gloria Gaither wrote these words in 1971. They have become a favorite for many.
God created us, breathed his own Holy Spirit into us, and called us "good." There is a "spirit of beauty" in every person ever born. But, because of our sinfulness, our waywardness, our self-centeredness, our rebellious nature, the beauty has been negated; all we have to offer God, or anyone, is meanness, selfishness, greed, envy and jealousy, lust, hatred and anger, bitterness and resentment. In spite of what we have chosen to become, God still loves us! God still cares about us! God is still at work in us, changing our sinfulness and brokenness into holiness and wholeness.
God is still able to make something beautiful out of us! Praise be to God!
Don Kuehle is a retired United Methodist minister who lives in Jackson. Opinions are those of the author.
Religion on 06/06/2019