Among Beauty and Bread

…everybody needs beauty and bread, places to play in and

pray in, where Nature may heal and cheer and give strength to

body and soul." John Muir

I was so inspired by a video we watched at the beginning of our church service this weekend. It led my mind directly to this quote and the meaning of “bread”. It inspired me to explain why I chose the name Among Beauty and Bread as the title of my blog. Obviously the words were taken out of this quote, and what they represent is precious.

We all live among beauty and bread, but we don’t all open our eyes and hearts to them. It is our choice to see God’s hand in all the glorious wonders of creation and overflow with gratitude, wonder and awe. It is our choice to pick up the Word of God, and allow it to be the bread that sustains our eternal soul.

among beauty…

To truly enjoy the beauty of God’s creation is to peel back the layers of what meets the eye. It is to see one insect, one flower, one tree, one drop of water, and know that they are connected, just as we are, as part of a delicate, complex, system established at the beginning of time. It is to see the peaceful, muted palette of a gulf sunset, the twinkling, distant stars of the night, the wind, water, and glacier carved mountain cliffs of the west, and know that there is a mighty hand that made them. It is to look into the eyes of the dirty, broken and forgotten, and know that they too were stitched together by a loving Father. This beauty we live among is not a superficial beauty. It is a beauty revealed by knowing the heart of God.

This C.S. Lewis quote says it perfectly: “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” ….Because by it, I see everything else….. exactly. Having His Spirit dwell within, and having God’s word live in our hearts provides a whole new lens through which to see the world. A lens that assigns beauty to the ordinary, places value on the worthless, and brings purpose and order to the seemingly random events of life.

…and bread

In this world, there is no shortage of ways to feed our minds. With only a couple of taps on a screen a window will open to anywhere in the world we want to be. Have a question? Chances are it can be answered in under a minute with today’s technology. A desire for information isn’t bad, but if it isn’t balanced by wisdom and Truth, it often leads to false ideas of what is best, right, and true. Life gets very confusing when up becomes down and wrong becomes right. It stirs a hunger for clarity, direction, and peace. There is a source that can quench the appetite of the soul and offer eternal fulfillment.

Bread is to our bodies what God’s word is to our souls. This bread is God breathed….God inspired…. the Word…. the Bible. This holy book is the only true physical portrait of His being in existence, and we are invited to hold it in our very own hands. Instead of brushstrokes, or a chisel, words are used to etch into our hearts an understanding of His nature, character, love, glory, power and promises. It tells of everlasting truth that doesn’t change with the tide, or shift with the ebb and flow of culture. This holy book we call the bible holds the recipe for our best life, but it doesn’t do us any good just sitting on the shelf or in a drawer. To be nourished by it, led by it, and healed by it, we must immerse ourselves in it. We must allow it to read us as much as we read it. To see God’s work in our lives, we must be able to recognize Him. His ways are revealed to us through His word.

Please watch this video about the bible. It is ahhhmaaaazing. It has lit a fire under me that needed to be lit. I’m too often lazy about reading my bible. Take a few minutes and enjoy. I promise it’ll be worth it.

Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. John6:35

He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. Deuteronomy 8:3