Welcome. Today for Spiritual Journey Thursday we are sharing thoughts about Julieanne Harmatz' OLW for 2016, ADMIRE.
Julianne's word made me think of this quote from C.S. Lewis' essay "The Weight of Glory" (1941).
We do not merely want to see beauty, though, God knows, even that is bounty enough. We want something else which can hardly be put into words – to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it. That is why we have peopled air and earth and water with gods and goddesses and nymphs and elves – that, though we cannot, yet these projections can enjoy in themselves that beauty, grace, and power of which Nature is the image. That is why the poets tell us such lovely falsehoods. They talk as if the west wind could really sweep into a human soul; but it can’t. They tell us that ‘beauty born of murmuring sound’ will pass into a human face; but it won’t. Or not yet. For if we take the imagery of Scripture seriously, if we believe that God will one day give us the Morning Star and cause us to put on the splendour of the sun, then we may surmise that both the ancient myths and the modern poetry, so false a history, may be very near the truth as prophecy.
So find something beautiful today and stand in wonder before it. Let its beauty become part of you. Carry it with you throughout your day.
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Doraine, this is an inspiring thought to start my day. I will heed your advice and find the beauty of today, stand in its wonder, and let it soak into my being. There is always a silver lining to catch.
ReplyDeleteThank you for offering the concept of admiring as finding something beautiful and standing in wonder of it, and then integrating and transporting/transmitting its beauty. So much to think about in your last three sentences. God bless you; thank you!
ReplyDeleteI admire C.W. Lewis and love this quote. I especially love that we want to touch and be a part of beauty. Thus, we move from admiring to partaking. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteOh my, C.S. Lewis is such a brilliant writer. Thank you for putting his beautiful words before us today and for reminding us to take heed and enjoy His awesome creation.
ReplyDeleteWhat an apt quote, Doraine. These words struck a chord: "We want something else which can hardly be put into words – to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it."
ReplyDeleteI think maybe that's one of the reasons I keep snapping photos of beautiful things I see...in some way those pixels on the memory card in my camera, then translated into my computer, the web, wherever, are a sort of ownership. We are indeed designed to crave beauty and admire it and want to be immersed in and part of it.