03 April 2011

Transient Beauty

My church has been preaching through Genesis and the Fall of Man. It's been interesting, but what has really stuck out to me is the idea that Creation fell with mankind. The physical world, abstract concepts like Justice, reason, and peace - they all fell with the original sin. But more importantly, beauty fell with man.

This is what I mean: currently, we find beauty in imperfection.

A contorted pepper.












An asymmetrical spider web.







Imperfect snowflakes.











 Flowers that are almost symmetrical, but not quite.








The beauty we're observing is one of imperfection. Our sense of beauty fell when Adam first sinned. Now, the Bible says God will restore Creation when Jesus returns, which means everything will be made new, including our human understanding of beauty. The only thing we know about this "new beauty" is that it will be perfect as God is perfect. But besides that, it completely escapes my comprehending.

Just think about it. There are moments - split seconds, really - where the beauty is so strong it kills you. It aches in the most painful way possible. When time slows down for one, exquisite experience that leaves you wondering what could possibly beat it for beauty, grace, or ... perfection, really. Maybe I'm just crazy, and none of you have experienced those "click points", but I sincerely hope you have. They're wonderful.

Anyways, these click points are what I consider the height of beauty. And yet, our sense of beauty is flawed. God will make beauty perfect like Himself. So if the click point is just the illegitimate, ugly, and flawed version of what God originally intended, just think about what Heaven will be like.

Doesn't that thought just give you the shivers? Our click points aren't nearly as beautiful as what will be in Heaven, because they will be made perfect. I have to stop typing now. I'm shivering too much. Just the idea of perfect beauty. Wow.

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6 comments:

  1. AutumnApril 4, 2011 at 12:38 AM

    I like this post!!!!! I understnad what you mean by "click points" I get them too.
    ~
    Autumn

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  2. HannahApril 4, 2011 at 7:47 AM

    Oh, I love this post!
    It actually speaks really powerfully to a bunch of different things God has been teaching me the past few weeks...things I've been thinking about a lot.

    It's especially thrilling to think that one day we will be with Christ, perfected, whole, and perfectly beautiful - to spend eternity with Him. (Phil. 3:20)

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  3. UnknownApril 4, 2011 at 12:15 PM

    Mmm, I love what you're saying. I remember reading something about those moments in C.S. Lewis somewhere or other. I never quite knew what to call them. The way I read of it in C.S. Lewis and the way I've always felt is that these "click points" as you call them - painful beauty - makes us long for "something more." That something more pointing us to the fact that we don't truly belong here. We are created for "something more."

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  4. AnonymousApril 4, 2011 at 12:56 PM

    In Plato's Symposium he describes that which is "The Beautiful" that, once glimpsed, causes one to always long for it. The life of the philosopher is the pursuit of "The Beautiful".

    Though in my own experience, I definitely know what you are talking about. Keep shaking, sis!

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  5. tatterjilApril 4, 2011 at 2:42 PM

    "bare branches against the sky"
    "the flash"


    Have not thought about that level of glory being STILL flawed, and thus heaven being much higher and more glorious. Thank you for that.

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  6. Heidi ChaffeeApril 4, 2011 at 7:57 PM

    Thanks for sharing Sabam. :) I love click points, and the thought that they could get even better, massively better is so intriguing. :)

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