True Beauty Part Two

 See first post here.

It’s a difficult question. In today’s culture, beautiful is most often used to refer to women, the models and actresses who make a fortune off their looks. But you know, I have friends who, although perhaps not beautiful in the world’s eyes, have moments where they simply take my breath away. On the other hand, some of the famous women most admired for their beauty I think are completely ugly.

Why is this? There is some characteristic which makes some people beautiful and others simply awful looking. Some people might say that it depends on their “inner beauty”. But then you have to consider the things in nature. A tree does not have an inner beauty (unless you’re New Age – all ye Understanding the Times people know what I’m talking about). A tree cannot sin nor can it do a good deed. It is neither good nor evil. 

It just is. But it’s beautiful. 

After some contemplation on this I started thinking about how I’ve never been that excited about cities. 

Yes, I do like to walk in downtown Portland, with the old candy shops and bookstores and art shops. Photo-shoots done there can look amazing and just being there is fantastic...but they do not touch me like the Grand Canyon does or the view of Mt. St. Helens in the distance on a breezy summer day.

That’s when I realized. I think that what makes a thing beautiful is the touch of the hand of God.  It makes all the sense in the world. I don’t like how actresses and models look because they’re fake, made up and “fixed” by humans, until the beauty that God gave them is lost. But my friends haven’t had plastic surgery, permanent makeup, dieted to an unhealthy extreme.  Their God-given beauty is still here.

The same with nature. God made the earth and He did an unspeakably wonderful job. Sometimes when I’m standing in a high place looking over a breathtaking view I like to imagine God’s hand scooping out the valleys, shaping the mountains, smoothing the slopes of the hills, drawing a curving, meandering line for the stream to come rushing down. 

Anyway, my point is that all things were made by God and from God came their natural beauty. To my way of thinking, everything beautiful that we humans have made – paintings, sculptures, gardens, etc. - are merely imitations of what God did.

This leads to another thought. If all these things that God created are so beautiful because He made them, then how beautiful must their Maker be? 

 

Wow. Just think of it. A painting is never as beautiful as the original. And our flawed earth compared to our perfect Creator – the difference must be even more striking. Moses couldn’t even look at God straight on, or else he would die, struck down by the purity, majesty, holiness, and beauty of God. We can’t even imagine.

And yet…this God who loves beauty, who has the creativity to design our universe, the power to form it, and the strength to sustain it…He came down and became a part of it. And even then, He could have come down as a powerful, majestic king, or a wise, mystic prophet, or a handsome, rich prince. But no. He came down as a humble, poor, unknown carpenter. In fact, Isaiah 53:2 says, “He has no form or comeliness, and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.” He wasn’t even good-looking! 

We tend to concentrate on the cross He endured. But isn’t it possible that He endured more than just physical pain? Ignored, scoffed at, and mocked when at any moment He could have showed them a wonder that would knock them dead – literally.

But He didn’t. Want to know why?

Because for all of God’s majesty, wisdom, power, creativity, justice, holiness, beauty, and strength, there is one characteristic of His that took preeminence – His love.

True Beauty Part One

It’s amazing how the smallest things can trigger a meditation on some deep aspect of life. For example, yesterday was a beautiful sunny day in my city. I took a long, leisurely walk to the library, which is just over a mile from my house. I was walking through an odd part of town.

See, the library is just off a really, really busy road. I don’t like to walk along that road though, so I take a short cut along a smaller road that’s closed to traffic, but pedestrians are allowed. It runs parallel to the really busy road. But separating this smaller road and the busy street is a large field (I think they’re planning to develop it, but not yet).

So here is this large grassy field right in the middle of a busy part of the town. 

I was walking along this little street with this wide grassy field on my right. On my left was a row of tall evergreens rimming the edge of several fenced backyards, with their tops outlined against a bright blue sky, with a few wispy white clouds floating lazily along. Periwinkles were blooming, practically covering the ground, with the occasional sunny flash of a dandelion’s yellow blossom. 

The sun beamed down upon our world and a breeze played with my hair. The only sounds to be heard were the singing of birds and the faint roar of the cars racing past on the other side of the field.

Suddenly I was startled by a shriek high above my head. I stopped and stared at the sky, trying to see what it was that disrupted my peaceful moments. Then I saw it – a hawk! 

Brown and black and gray, it soared just above the evergreens. So close it seemed I could almost see the individual feathers. It hovered for a wonderful moment, frozen in time, scarcely moving, it and I.

Then it was gone.

But I remained, wondering how such a simple thing could touch me so much. What is it about a blue sky, a simple flower, a sunset, a rain drop, a bird that can stop us in our tracks, just like that? It’s beautiful. But what makes it beautiful?

What is beauty?

 to be continued...

The Bridge - John 3:16

Most people have seen the short version of this before, but I would definitely recommend watching this. It's only 20 minutes long and you won't regret it. It is narrated by Reggie Dabbs at Planetshakers Conference 2007. Even you don't feel like it -watch it anyway! I didn't want to watch it when we were first going to at a Christian club meeting at college, but I was really glad I did. You will be too. :)

Stars

Did you know that, if you stood in the Aquarius stellar stream (which is about 2000 light years from Earth) and looked at Earth and if you had extraordinarily good vision), then you could see Jesus being crucified? Light never dies. And all vision comes from light. The light reflected from Earth travels into space for eternity - just as it does with the stars.
I love stars. They're so beautiful. They give me a feeling like nothing else.

When I stand in an open field, lit only by the silvery, ice-cold light of the stars, I feel so small. But so blessed. Here I am, tiny compared to the universe. And the universe is tiny compared to God. The stars were made from the breath of God. Psalms 33:6 "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth."

Can't you just see it? Have you ever seen your breath condense on a window on a sunny winter day? Thousands of little drops sparkling in the sun. That's how I can imagine it. God with a black canvas stretching for years. Then He leans down and breathes on it...and His breath clings...and hardens...and sparkles with light. Light moving more quickly than it is possible to see, yet taking thousands of years to travel just partway across the known universe.

 And here we are on our little blue-green planet. Tiny just compared to our sun and miniscule in comparison with the universe. And so small compared to our God...I can't even imagine. Yet this unimaginably great God chose to become one of us...to die for us. The King of the universe...the One who holds in the palms of His hands this:

He chose to come here:

  He became the most helpless thing possible - a baby. And He died. His blood as red as the stars He created to shine.

Why would He do that? Why would He give up everything for people worth nothing - for sinful me! Psalms 8:3-4 expresses this question perfectly: "When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?"

I could study God's Word for a thousand years and still not understand the answer. But I do know one thing: the universe, and us in it, was designed to give God glory. And they do: Psalms 19:1 "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork."

All I can say is: To God be the Glory!

Incredible Quotes #9

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.

~Jim Elliot

21 Examples Of How Not To Write.

Here are some hilarious examples of bad writing from my journalism book. They are statements made on insurance forms by car drivers attempting to summarize the details of their accidents in the fewest words possible.

I was innocently studying my book in the school coffee lounge when I came upon this. I was laughing so hard people were looking at me strangely. #16 absolutely kills me! Although you have to feel kind of bad...

1.      Coming home, I drove into the wrong house and collided with a tree I don’t have.

2.      The other car collided with mine without warning of its intentions.

3.      I thought my window was down, but I found out it was up when I put my head through it.

4.      I collided with a stationary truck coming the other way.

5.      A truck backed through my windshield into my wife’s face.

6.      The guy was all over the road. I had to swerve a number of times before I hit him.

7.      I pulled away from the side of the road, glanced at my mother-in-law and headed over the embankment.

8.      In my attempt to kill a fly, I drove into a telephone pole.

9.      I had been shopping for plants all day and was on my way home. As I reached an intersection, a hedge sprang up, obscuring my vision and I did not see the other car.

10.  I had been driving for 40 years when I fell asleep at the wheel and had an accident.

11.  My car was legally parked as it backed into another vehicle.

12.  The pedestrian had no idea which way to run, so I ran over him.

13.  A pedestrian hit me and went under my car.

14.  As I approached the intersection, a sign suddenly appeared in a place where no stop sign ever appeared before. I was unable to stop in time to avoid the accident.

15.  I was sure the old fellow would never make it to the other side of the road when I struck him.

16.  I saw a slow-moving, sad-faced old gentleman as he bounced off the roof of my car.

17.  I told police that I was not injured, but upon removing my hat, I found that I had a fractured skull.

18.  An invisible car came out of nowhere, struck my car and vanished.

19.  The indirect cause of the accident was a little guy in a small car with a big mouth. I was thrown from my car as it left the road. I was later found in a ditch by some stray cows.

20.  The telephone pole was approaching. I was attempting to swerve out of its way when it struck the front end.

21.  To avoid hitting the bumper on the car in front, I hit a pedestrian.

March 5

Today has been an extraordinary day.

First, I arrived at Clark at 8:45 this morning only to discover that my first class of the day, the one that is usually at 9 o'clock, was canceled. This after suffering through nearly an hour on the bus. I was not too happy.But I recovered.

So I spent the next hour telling a friend all about my childhood in Ridgefield, WA. And looking at violets. And seeing the first cherry trees in bloom. <3 I can't wait until the cherry trees all over campus are blooming...and the sun is shining...and the sky is blue...it will be so beautiful!

Also, today is my dear, beautiful friend's 2nd anniversary of beginning a relationship with her boyfriend. They are super cute together. And just thinking about it gave me a happy mood. :)

But then I got kind of depressed. I was talking to a classmate and she said that today is her sister's birthday. Except her sister died six years ago from leukemia. So they always celebrate her birthday with her favorite food. That was really sad. I will pray for her family.

And then I got home and found out that today is a young friend of mine's 13th birthday. I shared a hotel room with her and her mom when I went to the national tournament for the third time last spring. I like to think of her as another little sister. She's a very sweet girl.

Oh, and another unique about my day is this: I heard about this bumper sticker about abortion from this girl. She quoted it as saying "Pro-Choice, Pro-Child: If you can't trust her to make a choice, why trust her with a child?"

That confused me. I'm pretty sure the argument is flawed. No one should be allowed to have the choice of whether or not to kill a baby. Does that mean that no one should be allowed to have kids?

Another way to look at it is: young girls makes mistakes. If abortion is legal, they have the ability to make a mistake by having an abortion and killing a child. If abortion is illegal, then they have the ability to make a mistake when raising a child. The only difference is that killing a child is permanent; making a mistake in raising it is not. No parents are perfect.

Now that I've got that all figured out, I ought to ask her about that.

 Does that make sense? Any thoughts?

So that was my March 5.

Ladies vs. Gentlemen

A guy whose blog I follow made a post the other day about things that "true gentlemen" ought to do. (Read it here!) I found it really interesting, especially since that's one of those ongoing conversations my friends and I have - how much we wish all guys behaved like gentlemen. You know what I mean. You're walking into a building behind a guy and he lets the door slam shut in your face. You're struggling with trying to put on your coat while balancing multiple textbooks and an umbrella and a guy is trying to talk to you. It's frustrating!

My mom and I have had some discussions about this lately too. In my church there are several young men who behave like gentlemen (at least most of the time) and a couple of them have offered to help out my 13-year-old sister before. Being in the guy-shy stage, she was embarrassed and said no. But my mom and I told her that she ought to yes when guys offer to carry things for her. It's polite. Here's a little of my reasoning about that.

Men are the stronger ones. They have a responsibility to care for the weaker ones, i.e. women. Throughout the centuries, this care-taking has taken the form of things which are just the polite things for a gentleman to do for a lady. When a guy offers to do one of things for a girl, he is acknowledging that she is a lady.

When someone gives you a compliment, you don't say "Oh, you're wrong about that. No thanks." You say "Thank you" and accept the compliment. So when a guy tries to treat you like a lady, he is giving you a compliment, the respect a lady deserves. You ought to accept that compliment and by doing so give the man a chance to show that he is a gentleman. It's best not to refuse it unless you have a really good reason.

I know that there are times when it IS a good reason to say no thanks...like when you have no clue who this guy is. I get guys like that at the college I go to, and no way am I going to let a compete stranger carry my things for me. Defin. not.

But, in the midst of all this, don't forget to let your personality show. Don't become an automaton, just doing things because you should. Try to remember and after a while it will become natural.

When I ride the bus to school, there's a boy that always rides it too. He's probably about 15 years old. The bus gets super full when I ride because there are so many students who are riding it to my school. He gets on toward the beginning, when there aren't that many people, so he always gets a seat. But once the bus gets full enough so that people have to stand he always gives his seat up to a lady, an elder, or a disabled person. It's so sweet. And the best part is that you can tell he is completely sincere. :) He's not doing it just because - this charming gesture is completely from the heart.

And that's the way it should be.