Day 3
Beholding Beauty
Another way to begin recognizing God’s fingerprints in our daily lives is to allow ourselves to be impacted by beauty. We are all overloaded with input, but making space for beauty isn’t about adding another thing to our schedules. It’s more about choosing to intentionally behold things that inspire and regenerate us instead of the mindless consuming of things that leads to desensitization.
True beauty is deeply restorative. It doesn’t readily come to mind as an essential ingredient for our lives, yet without it, we do begin to wither. It’s the most unassuming necessity. Beauty is intrinsic to God’s nature and He has spared no expense in sowing this piece of Himself into every component of what He has made. Beauty matters to Him. He knows that when we open ourselves up to it, it has the power to bring rest, provide nourishment, and remind us that goodness always prevails in the end.
The trouble with beauty is that it is quiet and patient and doesn’t fight for its right to exist in our fast-paced lives. It requires an intentional practice of paying attention in order to receive it as a gift. Beauty also isn’t something that can be merely consumed. When it comes to the beauty that is in God and dispersed in His creation, we are invited to behold with a sense of reverence instead of scarfing it down on the go, like junk food.
Beauty does ask something of us. It asks for the active participation of our hearts instead of the passive numbing of them. Though this can be vulnerable, it is incredibly worthwhile because it is what leads to healing and transformation.
We all want to live meaningful lives and we’ve chosen commitments and responsibilities that are oriented toward that, but those things can take on a life of their own and sometimes overtake our limited capacities. It can feel overwhelming to try and add yet another thing into our lives, especially if it takes up time. But I wonder if there’s something of God’s upside down Kingdom here. It’s counterintuitive to think that slowing down and taking time could create more space for what truly matters. It seems we should keep worker harder and faster to be able to fit everything in. But when we nourish our souls with what is meaningful and beautiful, what we’re truly made for starts to wake up inside of us. This draws us out of living on the surface in survival mode and into the life we long to live.
The original sabbath day was saturated with this idea— resting in communion with God in the beauty of His freshly completed creation. He still offers the sabbath to us as a good gift from a wise Father who wants our hearts to be whole and thriving. A day of respite set apart within our week that transforms how we live the other six. He’s quite unlike the Pharaoh that relentlessly demands production without any care for our wellbeing.
Learning to live our lives this way is not out of reach! Turning our attention to behold the face of God in beauty starts with small decisions for margin. It begins with pausing when something strikes you as beautiful and lingering long enough to fully take it in and enjoy it. Do you believe that the longer you look, the more you’ll see?
Maybe it means taking 10 minutes outside before your next meeting, to breathe slowly until your nervous system begins to settle down. Or it could look like taking a few moments to just acknowledge each of your senses, focusing solely on what they are telling you. Small prayers of gratitude throughout the day are also a great way to awaken our hearts to the gift of life around us. As we pause to become more present, it helps heighten our recognition of God’s presence.
These little steps to slow down will go a long way in freeing up internal space within us. As we practice this over time, it will begin clarifying our perspectives and enlarging our capacities to steward our lives well. It may even stir up fresh inspiration, compelling us to create more beauty in response to the beauty we have received. All of this is worship— rising like incense in response to the most beautiful God.
Creative Response:
I have found that the more I practice these things, the more I’m inspired to create. For today’s prompts, we’ll experiment with this—some different ways of “beholding beauty” and creating in response. For both exercises, just have fun with it and invite the Holy Spirit to inspire you!
First, listen to Judah Earl’s song “Sand Drawing” several times. Relax your mind and simply enjoy the song. What does it inspire in you? Any thoughts, feelings, pictures, or memories? Write these down.
Now, take 5 minutes to really observe the photo below. Spend longer than you normally would, noticing all the details. What does it make you think of, feel, or imagine? Write your thoughts and associations. Follow the bunny trails. There’s no “right” answer!
Now, using your inspiration from one or both of these exercises, craft a poem, song, or short story. Invite Jesus to draw out your true heart and voice. What you create can be overtly “spiritual” or you can just play and practice creating. He’s close, in both!