You have turned for me my mourning into dancing…
That my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent.
Psalm 30:11-2 (NASB)
Several themes have occupied my attention as of late: glory, beauty, blessing. The second one ties to the other two; through beauty, glory can be glimpsed and people can be blessed. Where, though, is beauty found? In the sunrise? A young family? A woman weeping into her pillow?
Yes, yes, and yes. All are places of beauty. They are beautiful things. If beauty is found in all aspects of life—and I believe it is—it’s found in nature. It’s found in the young mother and father holding hands with their toddler. It’s found in brokenness and pain.
Beauty is everywhere, if I but have the eyes to see it. I can allow the things I see and the emotions I feel to call my attention to not only beauty but also glory. Beauty always points to deeper realities. When I find beauty in the beautiful, I am giving thanks to the God who created the sunrise and who formed that family. When I find beauty in the despair, I acknowledge I am not alone. I recognize that this present moment is fleeting. Something deeper is at work. Refinement, growth is occurring. Beauty will emerge. A promise is at work even if I can’t see it, even if I doubt it entirely.
Why, though? Why the promise? Why the belief that beauty is found in all of life, sacred and profane, beautiful and horrible?
The answer doesn’t have to do with me. Oh, I’m impacted by beauty, but it’s never for my benefit alone. Beauty, both the things that capture my attention and imagination as well as the dark, sometimes ugly things, is an opportunity to sing praise to God and to bless others. I am not to be silent. I am to share my encounters with the beautiful and offer people an entry point into the glorious. I let them know they are not alone in their joy or suffering. I invite them to join me in singing praise to the One who is with us in the mourning and the dancing.
Image: AP Photographie (Creative Commons)