A Challenge...Beauty

This week I was reminded in a presentation by the plastics surgeon Dr. Tertius of why I am here. Growing up in a Presbyterian church, I would quote this part of the Westminster Catechism."What is the chief end of man? To glorify God and enjoy Him forever." Well, that is nice big words and ideas, but how do we live this practically.  As I was listening to the presentation, I learned one aspect is to recognize beauty, love, and perfection.

God is beauty, love, and perfection. We are made in His image. Although the standards of beauty are cultural, universally, we respond to beauty, love, and perfection.  Whether atheist, agnostic, Christian, or any other religion deep down we respond. Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit created the universe with wholeness.  God said, "It is good." We react with joy, peace, wholeness, praise, wonder.

On the flip side, we react when we see ugly, unloved, broken. Deep down we struggle to look at it. It is not as it should be. It became this way after the fall when sin entered the world.

God is still in the healing, redemptive, loving, restoring business. He cares and longs for creation to be whole. One day it will be. In the meantime, some ways to practically glorify God and enjoy Him is to take the moments to stand in awe of the sunset, sunrise, mountain landscapes, flowers, stars, creation. To take the moments to recognize and tell someone that they look nice, beautiful, pretty when they do. To acknowledge the difficulty to look at broken, ugly, incomplete neighborhoods, people, cities.

Perhaps you are called to smile and wave at them, to sit a chat with them, to pick up trash, to share a meal, to give them a hug. Doing this requires the Holy Spirit working through you. Romans talks alot about living in the Spirit compared to living in the flesh. Our flesh wants to turn away, ignore, shun. God wants us to love the least of these.

Photo Credit: Mercy Ships

Photo Credit: Mercy Ships

Yes, I am currently serving with Mercy Ships, but you too are called to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. I pray this encourages you too to respond to beauty and the ugly, the wholeness and the brokenness right where you are now.

Photo Credit Mercy Ships

Photo Credit Mercy Ships