The blue was blending into a deep lake like color, the shading on the boat was difficult but was giving the depth needed. Color was being created, waves given definition, and the sunset made the focal point. I was creating beauty. Yes, I, Krisitn, was painting a picture. Now, must of you who know me, would only assume I could paint a room, well, who am I kidding, Ben paints the rooms! I haven’t picked up a paint brush since painting by number when my kids were little! And yes, frankly my picture looks like that, I know;)
Over the years, though, I have seen the vast importance of beauty, the arts, literature, and good story. My friends from other personality types have shown me that Type A is not the be all end all. I have chosen to pull myself toward a healthy middle where I see the goodness in my, get r done, functional, personality but I also see where it has been marred by sin and worthy of assessing regularly. I have come to appreciate so profoundly a good book, an opera, a deep movie, a theater show that expresses the human experience from a different perspective, or marveling at the softness of Black Labrador ears. Drinking in the joy in Sabbath and engaging in creating beauty are good places for a Type A to dwell in.
I realized that in my love of nature, which is God’s handiwork, I was stopping there. It’s like I forgot, or was never encouraged, to actually use the creativity that God has given me to create beauty with Him. To be a part of the built environment. Creating beauty, art, space, home, and places where people see a glimpse of the God we are in the image of, which has immeasurable worth when it is done to please Him and be used by Him.
I challenged our team (and myself) to paint a picture of what joy in their Sabbath looked like. This was outside the box for all of us. But it is a good reminder that joy, and Sabbath should be filled with beauty. The beauty of relationship, food around a table, a sunset, watching the night sky, or reading a book that moves you to tears, a documentary that reminds you of an issue you are passionate about, or the silence of listening to God. But to Sabbath, we must cease doing, to create, we must give up control and focus on the creating, and to enjoy beauty we must realize the gift it is from our Father first.
It is a privilege to create beauty. I used it to remind me of that sunset boat ride on Lake Kariba, where the blue water and still blue sky met at the end of that day, a day where we trusted God in our resting, our Sabbath. Where we remembered our 25 years of marriage and saw the beauty in all God has done.
