Saint Augustine expresses in his famous “Confessions” - "Too
late I loved Thee, O Thou Beauty of ancient days, yet ever new! Too late I
loved Thee!” He goes on to describe how
God burst his deafness, scattered his blindness and through God’s touch he was
made to burn for God’s peace. St. Clare
in her first letter to Agnes of Prague expresses the effect of the touch of the
Lord – “when you have touched Him, you shall become pure”. Clearly for both of these saints the Beauty
of God is more than just enjoying something that is pleasing to the senses . Encountering true beauty changes
you, it connects you with God himself, as He IS all that is good.
St. Francis speaks of goodness
being diffusive of itself and I invite you after reading this blog today to
consider some kind of beauty that touches you – and share it here on the blog,
in conversation with another person or just in your heart, between you and the
Lord! Perhaps it’s a scripture quote, a piece of music, a
scene in nature, an occurrence you’ve experienced or seen in the interaction
between people, etc. When we open
ourselves to it, we discover that we are surrounded in beauty, a beauty that is
ancient and ever new, let’s share it!
I’m leaving you with
this YouTube video of a song that always touches my heart, all verses, especially when it
speaks of Christ’s bleeding heart, forgiving eyes and his ultimate sacrifice.
If we can’t “GET” beauty, then for sure we can’t “GET” God
(I heard that in a class this week). Let
us populate our minds, hearts and thus the world with beauty, with love, with
God himself!
When You have loved [Him], You shall be chaste; when You have touched [Him], You shall become pure; when You have accepted [Him], You shall be a virgin.
Whose power is stronger,
Whose generosity is more abundant,
Whose appearance more beautiful,
Whose love more tender,
Whose courtesy more gracious.
In Whose embrace You are already caught up;
Who has adorned Your breast with precious stones
And has placed priceless pearls in Your ears
and has surrounded You with sparkling gems
as though blossoms of springtime
and placed on Your head a golden crown
as a sign [to all] of Your holiness
- St. Clare (1st Letter to Agnes)
- St. Clare (1st Letter to Agnes)
I really like the title of this post "populate your soul with beauty" it has made me think of an image i wanna share....
ReplyDeleteGod himself planting all the seeds and growing a lush garden in an empty field which is our heart and soul. Filling us with his beauty, with life of all kinds and with glorious sounds and color and even music!. All the gifts that we get from him are gifts and talents to share, to share the beauty of God with others,with the ultimate purpose to spread his life and good news and most of all truth and love itself . These gifts need great nourishment from the source which they came and we are like stewards of the garden, we don't "own" the garden but it has been entrusted to us to use in the right way . To let him do the nourishing and provide all the sunlight and water and let ourselves be open to his will and trust for how he wants to use these gifts... Love the version of "How Beautiful" Wow! Pure Epic! it sounds like it was recorded in heaven, hahaha