imperishable beauty

grappling with the beauty in the fallen world

walk with me here…

i often find myself thinking about the experiences i have had in life. the people that i have met, the places i have been, and how i felt while living through them. it isn’t very common for believers to admit this, but i appreciate some of the older ways i found community prior to committing my life to Christ.

i don’t say that like i am putting the world, and the void it offers over the abundance in knowing God. that will simply never match up in any way. it’s just that, as a person, in my humanity, i have found the world to be so beautiful in the midst of the chaos that it is to live in this fallen world.

amongst strangers, consider the people who hold the door for you, even as your far away from it. they stand there and wait for you to get there, you in consideration might do a little jog to get to it quicker, but frankly, they don’t mind either way. or the person who puts themselves second to lend a hand, help the elderly to their car. the school bus driver who spends every morning and every afternoon with children of complete strangers, ensuring they arrive safely to their destinations.

we’ll take a close look, amongst those we know, some of my favorite memories have been with unbelievers. bellies full of laughter with friends, breaking bread, speaking honestly with one another. the people in your life who show up for you, that may have wiped your tears. who have loved you, free of judgment or barriers.

these are good experiences, to me. they are beautiful to me, and they are instances that i cherish and carry with me. how could i ever look at this and see as if it was bad?

i have this joke that i, now, always say to a friend — “you would make a great christian,” and i say this because this woman serves me, and holds space for me. for a long time, we had a routine, every wednesday i would go over to her house, where she would cook for me, sometimes we would take the dog out together, we would watch tv or play games, or just simply talk and talk and talk. on days she didn’t feel like cooking, she would always cover dinner. i always brought cookies. i’m sure you can imagine, with how busy life can get, a weekly occurrence seems unreal, but we made it work. i was always welcomed, always served, always loved. at the end of it all, our cups always felt full. she has never made me feel like these nights were too much weight to carry, to spend, to give and to do it with such genuine gladness. so, just imagine the richness if she met the Lord?

she would make a really good christian.

what we can see here, what i have learned to acknowledge is the goodness that still exists here in the world, are remnants of God’s original plan. humanity has the ability to create art, act with kindness, pursue justice as a testament to an underlying, and enduring goodness.

the world being part of His marvelous works did not become eliminated because of sin. us, being made in His loving, gracious, joyous, merciful, image did not become eliminated because of sin. what is sin, to the hand and the design of the might Creator? humanity’s capacity for love and beauty is a remnant of our original creation in God’s image.

so how do i reconcile this?

a couple of weeks ago, i read a publication about the empathy we can sometimes lack as the body of Christ¹, and there was something at the end that was written that really stuck with me. “perhaps, it should be to find the holiness in them, and pull it out,” this made me think about how to come to terms with this juxtaposition of the world is actually bad, but i find a lot of good. we are pulling the holiness out of it, bringing it forward, even when we or they, don’t realize it. God never intended a fall, He wanted us to live in abundance and goodness. He desires for us to be kind. so when we see kind, we see Him.

when we experience joy, we experience Him.

when we witness justice, we witness Him.

even when they don’t know it’s Him. His goodness is stronger than anything else in this world. it will always be Him.

Him and His mighty, capable hands. this brings me so much comfort, in this fallen world, in this fallen people, He is still so evident, so present.

now imagine how much more this beauty expands, once we allow Him to open our eyes to see and our ears to hear?

as i write this, i recognize that this line of thinking only exists from His revelation. all good things come from God, and things become immeasurably better as we press closer to Him. i think this is important to recognize in our lives as we can sometimes become hard towards the world, when really the world is in desperate need of the love of God and to see the holiness that still exists. the divinity we can acknowledge if we allow the eyes of our hearts to be opened.

for ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. so they have no excuse for not knowing God. — romans 1:20 nlt

and, can you imagine what it would be like if you said to someone in regards to the goodness they exhibit, when someone lends a hand, performs a kind act, speaks life over you, you tell them… you remind me so much of Jesus.

i see the goodness of God in you.

i think i would literally burst into tears.

so i joke, that some people would make good christians, but it’s not really a joke, it’s rather a prayer — in Jesus name, one day they will see the remnants and know it comes from the ultimate source of good.

<3

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thanks for being here, please feel free to chat with me in the comments. i love speaking with you. if you support my work, you can buy me a coffee.

as always, i hope you leave here with a blessing.

1. the problem is we lack empathy - marie angèle