O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is Your name
in all the earth!
~ Psalm 8:9
I am amazed that despite the fall of man, and the curse that entered our world because of it, there is still so much beauty that surrounds us. I have an artist friend, Sheila Atchley (give credit where credit is due) who has a saying: “Beauty defies despair”, and I believe it is true.
I think there is a reason God made a beautiful world. He wanted to bless us, and He knew we would need it. Did you know smelling a rose can increase memory and learning? Or that flowers can stimulate the “happy” chemicals in our brain. It recognizes that seeing or receiving flowers is good and a reward. Isn’t that interesting? That God made our brains respond to beauty as a reward.
When we see so much ugliness in the world it is so easy to become discouraged, but what if we simply countered the darkness with beauty. That’s what God did. He took chaos, nothingness, and void and created an amazing world (Genesis 1:2, 31). We have magical sunrises, variegated sunsets, majestic redwood trees, mountains, oceans, and waterfalls; diverse animals that roam the earth, birds flit through the sky, there are mysterious sea creatures we are still learning exist, and a tapestry of people that add to the masterpiece of our every day.
As we come to the end of Psalm 8, I want to leave you with a little taste of my current work in progress, My First, My Only (working title), it is one of my favorite scenes:
“Wait, no, this is good.” He assured him, “We’re both early risers. It was still dark, and you could see the moon and stars. Then with each passing moment, a new color painted the sky. We watched a masterpiece unfold before our eyes. Sydney sang that Scripture, Psalm 8. It was, I don’t know… it felt holy.” He pointed to the dock, “I felt God out there.” Then he grabbed his chest, “who are we that God is mindful of us? That He cares for us? I just got this crazy contented feeling like He wanted me to be happy. That’s all.”
Take a moment to observe and thank God for the beauty of His creation. Maybe go out and smell the roses too! 😊
