2014
A friend of mine asked me what the most beautiful thing I had seen was. At the time I was a little at a loss, so I gave a trite answer. However the question has stimulated me into thinking about the answer.
The answer is Christ. For He is our lover. He is the fullness of God, who is very full indeed. He is the clear expression of God’s plans. All of these things are very beautiful and together they become dazzling beyond compare. So much so that the world around me seems to glow with more colour because He made it. It also makes evil more harsh and distressing. But how to explain this?
Imagine a great person, stronger than lions, wise as Mountains, more gentle then the light of dawn, whose words are clear as a stream and whose touch imparts life. Someone who’s very presence fills you with awe, gladness, laughter and light.
Imagine that this person loves you. Loves you more than a comrade who fought in a war with you and saved your life. Loves you more than a mother who tenderly cares for you. More than a father who guides and firmly supports you. Loves you more than a spouse with whom you share intimacy and deep trust. What can you do but love that person back back?
Now you go to visit this Person, the one who loves you. They live in a grand house. When you arrive the butler welcomes you. The butler informs you that the One who cares for you is otherwise occupied but will be with you in just a little while. So you wait in the lounge. Before long impatience seeps in and you begin to wonder around the room. You begin to notice the character of that Person all around you.
There is an arraignment of flowers on one of the tables. As you observe it you notice the care that the One who Loves you put into the arrangement. Each flower was carefully selected for its unique attributes, its fragrance and form. Each is set in in a place that it enhances the others and is most beautiful in itself. The overall effect is marvellous and the detail is stunning. The whole arrangement servers to stir in you the memory of the that Great Person who longs for you. Through this arraignment of flowers you gain a little glimpse of the richness of their character. As you consider the arraignment it is becomes more beautiful because of your great Lovers irresistible love. Joy wells up within you for seeing a glimpse of the One who Loves you, but oh, the delay is made less bearable with desire.
So you continue your pacing. In your pacing you come across a Vase. You know it is something dear to the One who Loves you because it is placed on the mantle piece in a place of Honour. Immediately it is dear to you too. How could you help it?
At the zenith of your pacing a man enters the room,you look at him and your longing is eased by the company. He walks up, considers the Vase and, suddenly throws it to the ground and spits on the pieces. That dear artefact is destroyed, you can only begin to think what that Dear Person will feel. Rage surges, you leap up and charge down the man, but he is gone before you reach him.
A pang of sadness wells up in you: this precious and beloved artefact is broken. So you set about to fix it as best you can, all the while waiting, longing, yearning to be with the One who Loves you.
But soon frustration finds you. You are not apt to fix the precious Vase. But as you work another person enters the room, he is also a friend of your Great Friend. You feel drawn to this man him, and you begin discussing the One who Loves you both: Who they are, and What they have done. He notices the work you had begun on the vase, and begins helping you. The work proceeds better together. In a matter of minutes you have become fast friends. Your friendship is based on the mutual love and work for the One who Loves you. The time comes for this new friend to leave. You cannot help but feel a sense of loss as you part, so the wait for your Great Friend becomes less bearable than ever.
And so you wait you fall more and more in love with the One who Loves you. As you explore the room you see and learn. Every object, every arrangement speaks of them and is made richer because you know the Owner, the Crafter, your Great Lover. You are sure that if another, someone who did not love that Person, came in it would seem like an ordinary room, but to you it is glorious and wondrous, but it is also a trial as if it where a prison. For the One who Loves is not yet here and not everything is as it aught to be. But none the less you wait.
This is an illustration of the Christian experience. The hope of the Christian and our longing in the anticipation of that One Who Loves us, the piercing beauty of the world, the world wrought in love and wisdom, the abhorrence of sin and oppression as the desecration of our Lord’s world and loved ones and the intimacy of our fellowship, we who together share in His Glorious Love. Oh what joy awaits us when He will come and we, the Bride, will be with the Groom! How creation will celebrate on that, our wedding day!
What shall we do while we wait? Join with me in sharing His love with all who will listen. Join with me in making ready this world. Join with me in following Him our Great Lover and Lord.
And if you do not know Him? Ask. There are a plethora here who would delight to introduce you. Indeed ask me.
2018-08-18
Oh Beauty you merciless woman! She pierces the heart and stands aloof. How unprofitable to pursue her alone. From her alone we gain naught, and she teaches us naught to sustain us.
But when she is a princess, not a queen, how profitable she is! and what a loss to lose her. For it is with her aid that we fully realise. With our eyes we see, with the ears we hear and in our mind we hold the parts. But it is with Beauty that the whole emerges and fills the heart. Then, with the mind to guide and the hands to work Beauty provides the vision and the hope.
If she is worshipped and made the source of all things she is treacherous for she will withdraw and all will collapse. You will pursue her but she will flee. Yet as you despair again she will appear and pierce your heart with no cause or explanation and then withdraw, leaving you to bleed out in confusion.
She is as a sharp blade, piercing who she will with no cause or explanation. Simply bringing forth blood and then shying away. Yet in the surgeon’s hands what healing she can bring. For she pierces past defences and through confusion and exposes the deep places. Then the surgeon can remove the corrupt and implant the good. But when the surgeon is absent what infection will enter those places?
When the loving King is the source and His love permeates all then she, as a daughter, a princess in His court, springs to life and dances with joy. She emerges and fills all we see.
Oh friends, let us love Beauty. But not as the Queen, for then she is treacherous and terrible. No, let us love her as a Princess in His court, for then she fills it with vitality and light.
Oh how great the Father’s love! Oh how strong a Beauty it has. Enough to move the soul and hold it secure; enough to pierce the hardest heart and bring forth tears of humility, trust, and repentance; enough to light the eyes in the darkest valley.