Beauty

Beauty calls to us.

It has a voice that shouts out all other voices, even though we can't always identify it. Beauty is a swelling refrain that comes from a place in our hearts we don't often visit. It may enter our hearts through our senses: a glorious sunset, a rising harmony, or the taste of perfection. And when it does, it stirs a ravenous hunger for more. Time stops. Everything fades in the presence of captivating beauty. We want to bask in it, drown in it, never leave this moment when that mysterious chamber in our hearts has come alive.

But with that desire comes the knowledge that even if we could sustain the moment, this sample of beauty will never fully satisfy the ache it aroused. And we are right. Every human heart hungers for beauty because to hunger for beauty is to hunger for God Himself. He is the sole definition of perfect beauty. No created experience can compare with Him. Everything else leaves us restless, unfulfilled, and longing for something we can't quite define. Every taste of earth's beauty, whether through physical sensation or spiritual ecstasy, is merely an appetizer.

God put that ache inside us. He designed us to long for Him alone. The longing for perfect beauty is His gift to us. It keeps us unsettled, unsatisfied so that we keep searching for Him. Without it, we would settle for garbage rather than seek a feast. When we see Him face-to-face, we will find the ultimate satisfaction in which we can lose ourselves. In His manifest presence alone will we find beauty that will not end. Our thirst for beauty will at last be satisfied .

The glimpses we now receive through our physical senses are mere reminders that there is something more. Starving souls gobble up the droplets awaiting the feast, but we must always remember that substitutes will never fill the void. A table full of cotton candy will never satisfy real hunger. No matter how delicious the momentary taste, it will never meet that deepest need.

We try to maintain the beauty on earth, but it always fades. The sunset turns to night. Harmony dies away. The thrill of the moment evaporates and leaves reality. Only the ones who know God can turn away without disappointment, knowing that the taste for beauty has only been whetted, not frustrated. Instead, we can thank God for the sample as we look forward to spending eternity basking in real Beauty.
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