Many years ago, when our first daughter was still quite young, we took the kids to a big aquarium. The final exhibit was located in a large, dark room lit only by cylindrical, floor to ceiling tanks filled with jellyfish of various species. There was an unusual hush in that room. People moved quietly, almost reverently, as if the silence of the jellyfish called for silence in response.
When we exited the building, my little girl came skipping up behind me, buoyant with joy, and clasped my hand. It was an unusual move for Peggy - not that she was a somber child by any means, but she preferred to keep her emotions to herself. We walked together for a few minutes before she looked up to me and asked, “Have you ever seen anything so beautiful that it makes you forget all about sin?”
To this day, I consider that question one of the most profound I have ever heard. It was an expression of wonder, of worship even, which enlightened my own understanding. In a moment of revelation, I responded, “Yes, I have! I know what you mean!”
Beauty springs forth from holiness, moving outward from the Creator. At the same time, beauty beckons us into God’s presence. It draws our senses upward toward “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely.” Once we arrive, we are so full of wonder that we cease to think about ourselves. The restlessness which drives our sin disappears. We are content to “be still and know God.”
The first time I was overcome by beauty, I must have been six or seven years old - about Peggy’s age at the aquarium. Against my will, my mother took me to Pentecostal revival meeting in the mid-1970’s. What first-grade girl would want to spend her evening at church? But once the music started, I was captivated. After a few opening hymns, hundreds of people began singing in the spirit - hundreds of voices lifting up different words with different melodies all at once. On one level - the song was unintelligible, but the beautiful, other-worldly music spoke directly to my heart. I knew this had to be a sound straight from heaven, and I was perfectly content to listen as long as it might last.
I wonder if Satan’s rebellion was terrible and final because he lived in the presence of God’s beauty? At some point, he must have turned his eyes away from God, towards himself, unleashing horror and destruction on the whole world. The full story is a mystery, of course, hidden from our eyes for now. But I hope that in eternity as we behold the Father’s beauty, we will not forget the ugliness of sin. I hope that somehow our experience on earth will be an inoculation against Satan’s temptation.
For now we wait, with eyes veiled, for the fullness of God’s plan to be revealed. There is a purpose to our waiting, I am sure, and to the limits of our human flesh. But the more we experience God’s beauty now, the more we will long for Him. The more beautiful we find Him to be, the more distasteful sin will become. And the more we reflect His beauty, the more life will flow from our inner beings.
For this reason, I pray for Christian artists - Holy Spirit, direct our eyes to the beauty which flows from the Throne. Give us skill to touch hearts through the senses, manifesting the Creator’s own beauty.
I pray for the teachers among us - Holy Spirit, inspire teachers to remind of us of truth even when our eyes are veiled. May they instill a love in our hearts for what is true and noble and good.
Most of all, Holy Spirit, I pray for You to breathe on us anew. Enlighten our eyes to see beauty so that we forget all about sin! Touch our hearts yourself, for when we wholly love our holy God, we shall become holy as well.