Depth for Beauty

Words elevate beauty!  Ever since my parents gave me my first journal 28 years ago for my 13th birthday, I have been compelled to write and haven't stopped since.  I am inspired by the exquisite process of forming words that come to me like the rising tide to create something profound and beautiful.  I'm delighted to explore the greater depths of unearthing the unexpected treasures found in the seemingly mundane of everyday abundance.  It is time to unveil these precious gifts, some of which are both glorious and heartbreaking. Let's get started with excerpts from some of my favorite musings on the depth of beauty and the transforming power of gratitude.

DEPTH FOR BEAUTY REDEFINED

"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him."  1 Corinthians 2:9

The world's definition of beauty is fleeting, a chasing of the wind that is here today and blown away tomorrow like chaff.  Depth for Beauty in the eyes of the Lord opens up to the resurrection power of His steadfast love that contradicts human nature.  Redefined beauty marks the transformation of the ordinary and seemingly insignificant which has been deemed lovely in the eyes of a Creator Who "notices when a sparrow falls" and Who has "clothed the lilies of the field with splendor." (Matthew 1:29; Luke 12:27)  Beauty is found in the memory of a grandmother's gentle touch, a mother's unconditional love, and a father's unwavering commitment to provide for his family.  There is indescribable beauty of new life as a fragile helpless baby enters the world for the first time, seeking nourishment from its parental flesh--a miracle that only a mother can truly comprehend.  I find beauty in the glint of a child's eyes, belly laughs, new discoveries, and the growing pains of parenthood.

There is also beauty in the tragic aspects of life.  I feel both joy and sadness looking back at my time spent on the memory care unit delighting in the warm touch of soft wrinkled hands and the discovery of souls emerging through fragmented memories and glimpses of the past.   I have experienced heartbreaking painful beauty at the end of life.  A few years ago, I sat in the hospital room, holding my friend's hand and praying for the soul I was not ready to release to eternity.   I'll never forget the moment she heard my name and opened her eyes wide--distant eyes that reflected the kingdom glory just around the corner.  Beauty also emerged in the moment I feared my own life was slipping away.  One afternoon I was asleep in bed, my body afflicted with piercing pain and profound weakness. I opened my eyes to find my husband kneeling over me begging God for my healing.  There was tender beauty in his daily sacrifices for my welfare and his steadfast love for me.  All these things have been painfully beautiful; a paradox in the making when eternity transcends worldly beauty and nothing is the same ever again.

REDUCED FOR BEAUTY OUT OF THE ASHES

"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us."  Romans 8:18

 I have been reduced for beauty out of the ashes of my own affliction.  When the largeness of life was pulling me along by an all-consuming current, I found myself drowning and there seemed to be no way out. With a word from the Lord, my course was altered, and I found myself crushed by the weight of malady.  In my Job days, I was enveloped in darkness, confined by the four corners of my bed.  Disease ravaging my body, and my mind frenzied with fear. My spirit was pleading with prayers that seemed lost in the dead echoes of silence.   The enemy of my soul seemingly had the upper hand, but he underestimated the power of the Great I Am.  The God of heaven had a bigger plan incomprehensible.  I was undone.  I was reduced in my body, my life, and my spirit. I identified with Job as he lamented, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return.  The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”(Job 1:21)

By depth for beauty, I was brought down low, condensed to nothingness, and in losing myself, I unearthed the unexpected.  It gradually immersed into my being with small adjustments to my spirit.  My life was transformed for the making and choosing of the divine.  My eyes were opened, unveiling new truth.  With one excruciating step at a time, I discovered the conduit to supernatural trust while enduring uncertainty and disease.  Then, one day I found my fears and anxieties dispersed by the “grace that is sufficient and power made perfect in my weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).  My life was smaller, and I was overwhelmed with awe for the vastness of my God Who transformed my ugliness into beauty and my sorrows into gratitude.  

 How did I not see it before these afflictions?  All the loveliness around me. The small things that count.  Beauty for the sunshine and a breath of breeze. Delight for grasping small hands and feet.  Beauty for simple everyday things.  Miniature butterflies sunning themselves on glossy stems.  Goldfinches nibbling on profuse sunflower blooms.    The cool crisp taste of cucumber on my tongue. Sunset reflections on windowpanes in a glorious blaze.  The sweet tinkle of piano melodies on rainy days.  So many things for beauty and blessing to count.   All these acts of worship that offer glory to our Creator.  I uncovered gratitude for my smallest joys and for His abundance.   All this pain and beauty, and I was left with the gift of gratitude in its truest form. The gift of grace.  An abundance of blessings to count for glory.  Joy for the moment.  The resurrecting power of “peace that surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:7).  My life was condensed and my vision modified for the gift and the blessing, beauty emerging from the ashes! 

SANCTIFIED BY BEAUTY TRANSFORMED

"Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes.  Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight."  1 Peter 3:3-4

Clichés like "beauty is only skin deep" and "beauty is in the eye of the beholder"  do not mean much as long as we look to the world to define it.  I spent too much of my life yearning to look and feel beautiful while falling short in comparison to the world's deceiving images.  When God enters the picture, everything changes and beauty is transformed into His likeness.   God's excruciating sanctification of my character has carried me through on the wings of His fresh mercies, and I am marked for His glory.   Here is a list of reflections I penciled in my journal a few years ago describing God's transforming beauty in my sanctification:

• I am here on earth for a temporary assignment and my real home is in eternity
• I will be rewarded in heaven for my suffering
• God has created me the way I am for His purpose
•  When I degrade myself, compare myself to others, or wish I could change who I am, I am rejecting His beautiful creation
• Christ conquered death on the cross, therefore I no longer need to be afraid of death
• I need not worry about what others think of me because Christ, my defender, redeems all things
• God tends to use weakness and things of minimal worldly value for His kingdom so He must have something magnificent in store for me
• Thanksgiving and gratitude are the ultimate gifts I can give back to God
• Praise releases incredible power 
• Everything, both good and bad, is for God's purpose and will bring Him glory  

 There is boundless freedom in viewing the valleys of life through the eternity lens.  God is our magnificent hope and His truth diminishes the world's facade of beauty in exposing His everlasting splendor.  Like the ethereal monarch emerging from its tomb of sorrow, our delicate beauty emerges from Christ's redeeming grace and everything else pales in comparison to His eternal majesty.

"He has made everything beautiful in its time.  He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end."  Ecclesiastes 3:11