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Beauty is a touchy subject in today’s world. It is considered a virtue, to be sure, but a subordinate one, always in the shadow of goodness, truth and justice. “True beauty comes from within,” the cliché decares. To pursue and appreciate the beautiful is, in our cultural subconscious, the worst kind of vanity, an unholy devotion to the world and to one’s self.
But if we worship a God who is true, good and just, do we not also worship a God who is beautiful? As the hymnwriter so poignantly puts it,
Fair are the meadows,
Fair are the woodlands,
Robed in flowers of blooming spring;
Jesus is fairer;
Jesus is purer;
He makes our sorrowing spirit sing.
(“Beautiful Savior,” verse 2, ELW 838)
Cherry blossoms taught me to appreciate the beauty of life and to recognize God’s presence and work in it. The cherry blossoms taught me that there is always time, especially when it seems there isn’t.
This message is excerpted from “The cherry blossoms taught me.” by Hannah Hawkinson in the June 2021 Gather magazine.