Dec. 8: Awed by the Beauty

Resurrection Window, Designed by John Piper and made by Joseph Nuttgens, 1984. Stained glass. All Saints Church, Farnborough, West Berkshire, England. Photo credit: Andrew Loutit. © The Piper Estate / DACS 2021

For the Beauty of the Earth, performed by Cantus. Composed by Folliott S. Pierpoint and William Chatterton Dix, arranged by Paul John Rudoi.

Week Two Introduction

December 08–14
Title: Awed by the Beauty

The Song of Songs is bursting with beauty. The story takes place not in the bleak midwinter but in springtime when everything is in full bloom. The king’s verdant gardens, pleasant pastures, and abundant vineyards are striking backdrops for the handsome couple as they navigate their botanical wonderland. Here, the natural world is integral to human well-being. The sensual descriptions of lushness seem almost overpowering at times, but the heightened language and frequent use of metaphors invite us to make comparisons, feel emotions, and connect with the text on a much deeper level. Author Kathleen Norris writes, “When seeking to be at home...with God in solitude and silence, [we] know that metaphors, which insist on connecting disparate elements in ways that the reasoning mind resists, will be of more use than any treatise.”

We believe that Solomon’s Canticle is divinely inspired as well as a great work of art. This little book is filled with morehapaxes(words that appear in the Bible only once) than any other portion of Scripture. The Song’s unusual language and word pictures have resulted in a plethora of disparate interpretations. The Song’s most striking feature according to Hebrew translator and poet Marcia Falk is its “extraordinary musicality.” For centuries this love poem has influenced artists and artisans from a wide variety of disciplines. It is read or chanted at weddings and during Passover. First century Jewish Rabbi Akiva referred to it as the Old Testament’s “Holy of Holies.” When all is said and done, the Song of Songs functions as a grand invitation to contemplate the beauty that exists in this world and, by extension, the world to come. The beauty found in the Song is captivating because it draws us towards the truth.

Christians believe that the Triune God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—is ultimate, absolute beauty. All things beautiful in heaven and on earth flow out of the Godhead. Professor Samuel Parkinson writes, “Rather than thinking of some abstract standard of beauty to which God and creation both adhere, we must think of God himself as the standard…This is preeminently the case in the single greatest revelation of divine glory: the incarnation of the Son of God, the Exegete of the True, Good, and Beautiful divine nature…The whole of Christ’s person and work is the apex of the divine revelation of beauty.” We stand in awe and amazement as we gaze on Christ’s beauty: his radiant light, the grace of his holiness, his wonderful compassion and purity. In John 10:11, Jesus describes himself as the beautiful or good Shepherd. It is with perfect love that he cares for each of us. Like a young bridegroom who longs for his wedding day to come, so too, our beautiful Bridegroom sings over his beloved with ardent desire: “You are altogether beautiful my love; there is no flaw in you” (Song of Songs 4:7, ESV).

When Russian literary great Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote the famous line “beauty will save the world,” I imagine that he might have been thinking of Jesus. The most powerful weapon we have in our battle against the deceptive beauty of the enemy is authentic beauty—the matchless beauty of Christ. The more we focus on his glory, the more beautiful we become. In 1 Peter 3, readers are exhorted to develop “the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.” Experiencing transcendent beauty is relational. It occurs when the heart of God touches our hearts, when we are known by him and are conformed to his image. May you glimpse the beauty of our wonderful Lord and his creation this Advent!

Poetry:

from “At the Fishhouses”
by Elizabeth Bishop

Down at the water’s edge, at the place
where they haul up the boats, up the long ramp
descending into the water, thin silver
tree trunks are laid horizontally
across the gray stones, down and down
at intervals of four or five feet.
Cold dark deep and absolutely clear,
element bearable to no mortal,
to fish and to seals . . . One seal particularly
I have seen here evening after evening.
He was curious about me. He was interested in music;
like me a believer in total immersion,
so I used to sing him Baptist hymns.
I also sang “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.”
He stood up in the water and regarded me
steadily, moving his head a little.
Then he would disappear, then suddenly emerge
almost in the same spot, with a sort of shrug
as if it were against his better judgment.
Cold dark deep and absolutely clear,
the clear gray icy water . . . Back, behind us,
the dignified tall firs begin.
Bluish, associating with their shadows,
a million Christmas trees stand
waiting for Christmas. The water seems suspended
above the rounded gray and blue-gray stones.
I have seen it over and over, the same sea, the same,
slightly, indifferently swinging above the stones,
icily free above the stones,
above the stones and then the world.
If you should dip your hand in,
your wrist would ache immediately,
your bones would begin to ache and your hand would burn
as if the water were a transmutation of fire
that feeds on stones and burns with a dark gray flame.
If you tasted it, it would first taste bitter,
then briny, then surely burn your tongue.
It is like what we imagine knowledge to be:
dark, salt, clear, moving, utterly free,
drawn from the cold hard mouth
of the world, derived from the rocky breasts
forever, flowing and drawn, and since
our knowledge is historical, flowing, and flown.

THE DELIGHT OF HIS PRESENCE

Long ago when I lived in Hawai‘i, I would arrive at a remote beach just when the sun was rising in hopes of finding dolphins. After swimming far out from shore, I paused to look back. Beyond the beach rose a backdrop of green hills with beams of light breaking through the clouds above them. When I dove underwater, I heard the whistles and clicks of the dolphins and saw them glide sleekly through the water. Like golden leaves fluttering from the trees in autumn, yellow tang fish glimmered through the dark blue of the deep expanse. Each of us can identify moments in our lives of unclouded happiness, completely free from any gnawing sense of trouble or unrest. Those mornings in Hawai‘i exemplify it for me. Even in a world burdened by the effects of sin, creation is full of beauty, imparting peace and joy in the sheer glory of existence.

God has spoken to us through his word, but he also writes his love to us in the world that he has made. The Scripture passages remind us that within us, God has put eternity in our hearts, and that outside of us, creation shouts the message of the spiritual and infinite reality that envelopes our physical world. The earth itself, beasts, birds, and fish, all are ready to teach us the knowledge of God. As Elizabeth Bishop writes in her poem, knowledge flows over us like water. Nature reveals God’s existence and continual care, his power and glory as the one who created it, his love as a Father who delights to bestow beautiful gifts upon his children, and his provision in giving us breath, life, and our daily needs. If the beauty of creation streamed from no source but itself, it would be a beauty that merely covers emptiness, change, and futility. Its true beauty lies in the fact that it points to another. The pleasure that we find in creation flows from its creator and reassures us of his presence and love. In speaking of the wonder and beauty of the gifts of creation—the earth, day and night, trees and flowers, and sun and stars—our hymn for today concludes that God’s greatest gift is the gift of himself bringing “peace on earth and joy in heaven.”

As we celebrate this Advent season and remember this greatest gift of the incarnate Christ, perhaps we can also take time to enjoy the full God’s gift of creation, allowing it to speak to us and calm our hearts. One of the greatest evils in this age of technology is that we aretemptedaway from nature, spending our waking hours fixated on a screen indoors oblivious to the joy that calls to us from without. God does not give lightly; his gifts bring blessings of peace and renewal.

Prayer:
Father, Isaiah said that the Messiah would be called Immanuel because he will be with us. Thank you for Jesus, who came to dwell with us as God incarnate in man; thank you for your Spirit, who makes his home within us; and thank you for the gift of this beautiful creation, which fills us with delight as it constantly reminds us of your presence and love.

Dr. Laurie Wilson
Assistant Professor
Torrey Honors College
Biola University

For more information about the artwork, music, and poetry selected for this day, please visit our website via the link in our bio.