'The Love of God Lasts Forever'
Now if out of joy in their beauty they thought them gods, let them know how far more excellent is the Lord than these.
Wisdom 13:3
Beauty brings pleasure. Cherry blossoms blowing, a mother cradling her child, scarlet leaves dancing along the pavement: These things lift my heart. When I don't feel pleasure at nature's beauty, it's usually because emotions like guilt, anxiety or distraction are in my way. Making a conscious decision to notice beauty can be an act of gratitude toward our Creator.
The joy we feel when we notice beauty reveals that God intends our happiness. In this life we're called to sacrifice often, and many of us must sacrifice to an unbearable extent--but we are assured that if we are willing to lose our lives, we will regain them in the joy of heaven. The Bible is a love story, and it ends with Love triumphant.
But the blossoms decay; the leaves rot. Even the mother ages and dies. These deaths of beauty keep us from idolatry and point us toward the eternal God.
Father Ed Bakker
Anglican Catholic Church / Original Province
Mission of Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne
Bendigo
Australia
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