How to Become Great at Recognizing Beauty
And 6 Other Thoughts From the Week
1. Prayer of the Week:
An excerpt from Divine Support in The Valley of Vision:
“Support me by the strength of heaven that I may never turn back, or desire false pleasures that wilt and disappear into nothing. As I pursue my heavenly journey by thy grace let me be known as a man with no aim but that of a burning desire for thee, and the good and salvation of my fellow men.”
2. How to Become Great at Recognizing Beauty
While driving to school sometimes we get to see some amazing sunrises. This week I shared some great advice I picked up from Hearing God by Peter Lord. He was remarking on how people grow insensitive to beauty and, therefore, lose the capacity to take it in. The solution, he said, was to name it when you see it.
In other words, when you see a beautiful sunrise, say, “What a beautiful sunrise!” Don’t just think it, say it out loud! Your ears need to hear your mouth commenting on what your eyes have seen, and how you were impacted by it. To use all of our faculties to take in beauty and express gratitude will not only keep us from growing dull, but it will fine-tune our capacity to notice beauty.
Note: The same works with negativity. The continuous expression of negativity will also train you to notice negative things in the world.
3. Raising our Expectations of Youth
As I mentioned last week, I’m teaching our Confirmation class. This class is filled with kids aged 12-15. Whenever I teach kids I like to remind them that when Jesus called his 12 apostles to follow him, he wasn’t calling senior citizens as most artwork suggests, he was calling teenagers.
Jesus saw world-changing potential in youth, we should, too.
4. Song on Repeat
I have a lot of admiration for addicts who are on the journey towards freedom. They are some of the most courageous people in the world. This week I paid attention to the lyrics to Jesus Wept by Sia. It is an amazing ode to how Jesus suffers with and brings delivers to, those who are addicted.
5. Too Much Work, Not Enough Play
In the eyes of God, we are infants. We need to remember that when we set out to participate in the “work” he set out for us. Children play their way through life. Sometimes I think if we made a game out of “becoming like Jesus” we’d come up with something more effective than our current models of discipleship. When you play a game there is a point… for many people church is, dare I say it… pointless and ineffectual.
In our attempts to take God seriously, we have made him into the fancy dishes that are stored away, safe. What would we do if we were to play our way through worship and sanctification?
6. Better to Give than to Receive
Do you ever think about how joyful Jesus must’ve been? We know that he filled many people’s lives with joy through his words and deeds, but we rarely think of the joy he received from the gratitude expressed by those whose lives he touched. He was easily the happiest person that has ever lived.
Be like Jesus this week.
7. I Love Questions Like This:
You’re hosting a dinner and you get to invite anyone over from the past or present. Who makes your list?
Jesus - obviously
Dallas Willard - obviously
Kobe Bryant
Timothy Kanyion
Shadrach Kanyion
Who would make your list?
Assuming that hosting a dinner party means my wife and kids are going to be there (since we're the ones hosting)...
1. Jesus - obviously
2. Charlie Karr (my grandpa who died when I was 6)
3. Crawford Loritts (if he gets a +1, then I count his wife here, too)
4. Abraham Lincoln (if he's already booked, then I'd invite George Washington in his place)
5. Guillaume Fouquet (my ancestor who immigrated from France to the U.S. in 1685 to escape persecution for his faith in Jesus)
I remember when I was in high school (!) we were asked a similar question - we were allowed one famous guest and I chose Golda Meir. I so admired her courage at that time as Israel’s first and only female head of government.