All Beauty is God's Beauty
This week on spring break I saw two completely different things, in two different places, but they both took me to the same conclusion.
We visited the newly renovated Crystal Bridge Gardens in OKC. It’s a giant walk through greenhouse with every imaginable kind of flower, shrub, tree, and plant. The colors were astounding, their brilliance only challenged by their diversity. The flowers and blooms are all different sizes, shapes, colors, and thrive in deserts, jungles, and in water. I don’t know much about flowers or how to grow them, but the creation of God was on full display.
We also visited the Museum of Art. Paintings, sculptures, and other designs filled every floor. The creativity of the artists was visible at every turn. Most striking to me was the glass art exhibit by an artist named Chihuly. His work takes great skill and talent as you can see in the pictures. I know even less about blowing glass than I do about growing flowers, but I can appreciate the beauty of his creation.
The glass was amazing and took on all sorts of shapes and colors, just like the flowers. The creativity of the artist was on full display across that museum too. The different is that much of the glass is meant to mimic the designs found in nature, like the ones I had seen in the flowers the day before.
Men and women are capable of brilliant acts of creation and beauty. But even the works of the great masters pale in comparison to the work of God the creator. Jesus spoke to this, telling us to consider the Lillie’s of the field, which even outshone the great King Solomon and his splendor.
God does not keep his beauty in museums though. There’s no guide telling you to be careful, no velvet ropes, and no expensive price tags beside it all. The beautiful work of God is found right out your front door every morning in the sunrise, growing on the roadsides in the wildflowers, and in the wildlife all around us. God’s beauty can be seen by the rich and poor, the young and old, every nationality, tribe, and tongue.
Every act of beautiful art, music, poetry, writing, painting, or more in the world is made possible as we are made in the image of God, the great creator. Men make beautiful music, but God made music. Women paint beautiful sunsets, but God hung the sun in the sky. Men carve statues of great men out of stone, but God made all men out of dust.
The brilliance of God is on display all around us, and we all need to do is stop and look. That can be the hardest part sometimes, as we feel the tyranny of the urgent. But this week, pray a simple prayer: “God help me see the beauty of your creation around me. ”
By all means visit museums and enjoy fine art. There is much to see and appreciate in this world. But don’t neglect the beauty of the first creator, the great artist God himself.
