Writing on the Five-Minute-Friday prompt for this week…
“Beautiful!”
It’s what I say so often. Sometimes aloud, often sotto voce, just to myself, to my God.
An insight from scripture washes over me.
Or I hear a familiar psalm begin, or see its words appear in a text, on a screen.
Or I catch a fleeting glimpse of God’s all-pervasive wisdom and grace in the world around me, the hidden in the visible, the blessing obscured far too often by shadows, marred by brokenness or inadequacy.
And I pray, “May the beauty of the Lord be upon me… May the beauty of the Lord be upon me…” speaking of a beauty beyond my comprehension…
Because there is a beauty that far transcends all that we deem beautiful. Beauty mere eye cannot see. Unfading, never tainted, glowing and alive for ever. That beauty—of the Lord.
And it seems to me that every beauty we can see with our eyes or hear with our ears is placed before us as a hint at the beauty so infinitely surpassing it—beauty yet invisible, inaudible, the beauty of eternity in the face of our Lord.
And what can I say in response? My meager mouth only finds fitting a breathless… “Beautiful!”
*****
Also linked to
Dear Sylvia
I don’t think that we are able to come into the Presence of God’s beauty in these bodies and live!
Blessings x
Mia
Neither do I, Mia. And so (I think) all the greatest earthly beauties are but mere hints, greatly subdued whispers, of the beauty of His presence that would be too much for our fragile forms to encounter. “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
And blessings back to you, Mia.
All that is beautiful cannot be seen with the human eye. Great reminder… there is beauty in the words that seek the heart of our Father.
Just returned from a walk where I was thrilled with the beauty around me, the sky, the wild flowers, the view…so thankful. Then to read this and my soul trembles…more beautiful–is too wonderful for me to comprehend…
Beauty from the Lord, Floyd, come down to us. Words themselves such a wonderful gift.
That is so wonderful, Laurie! God’s special timing again! Magnifying all the beauty. Yes, the thoughts of His beauty beyond comprehension can surely make the soul tremble…
I Love your prayer “May the beauty of the Lord be upon me!” I often pray Isaiah 60 and 61, May the glory of the Lord rise on me (or whomever I am praying for),too… Lovely, Sylvia. How much God wants to shower on us that we miss, perhaps never looking or listening for it, and I believe this prayer is a leading of his spirit on you and each of us!
Beauty changes me, inspires me, leads me forward. I’m a hunter, scavenger, gatherer of beauty. Always looking for it around every corner. Love this Sylvia.
Pam, you have inspired me to publish a repost next, because it holds the scripture I was praying. And yes, I think the prayer came from God, for me to send back up to Him. I often think of how one psalm speaks of “His song… my prayer to the God of my life…” and consider how He gives us the very prayers to pray, by His Spirit and in His word.
Also… I love Isaiah 60 and 61, and you have no idea how significant Is 61 has been in my life!
I am, too, Shelly! So grateful for a heart and eyes to perceive it! A beautiful Sabbath to you!
Shelly and Sylvia – oh, me too! Just this weekend, I have been moving things around in my home, and the fresh look and beauty of it has lifted me to praise. And to mulling over how simple beauty – the light coming in the window and touching a pretty vase, the look of a grouping of artwork on a wall, the glory of light and shadow in a garden — brings me such joy. Little echoes of the beauty He paints all around us. Mmm.