Invitation to Delight

Lee and I just got back from a little getaway to St. Louis.
Our teenagers have been at camp,
and we took advantage of some wonderful time together.
All along the way there was beauty of every imaginable kind.
There was God-made beauty.
And man-made beauty.
And the kind of beauty that can only be made
when people work hand in hand
with the creative God who made them in his own image.



There were animals, perfectly designed for their unique ways of life.





There we were, right in the middle of them, laughing.
Just the way I can only imagine that God laughed when he created them
(and probably when he created us!).
And when he watched us laughing, interacting with his other creatures.





There was lots of art.
But I was really taken by this Little Dancer of Degas'.
I imagined God watching Degas create, and thinking back to when he created Degas.
The same God who created me.
I thought, Isn't she breathtaking?
And I realized God said the same thing when he created each and every one of us.

There was the city itself, with all of her history and architecture.

Each building with stories of the people who made bold moves,

or big investments.

Not all of which turned out well.

For this world is tended by all kinds of people, meant for beautiful stories,

but not everyone pursues the sort of story God dreamt of when he made us.

We saw all kinds of architecture,

all built to connect the occupants to the land and surroundings.

We explored a small town, known for its stories of mischievous boys

who were unlikely messengers of the truth that everyone is created with value

that is way more than skin deep.

We saw all kinds of plants...

and homes of people who have made a life of tending plants,

plants that provide our very sustenance.

People everywhere, harnessing and using God's resources

to live and create beauty.

Recently, our Photo 52 theme was "Photographer's muse: What inspires you?"

This is it.

It's all this variety of life, sourced by a creative God

who invites us to enjoy and cultivate it right along with him.

It's awe inspiring.  HE's awe inspiring.

And the thing is--this is nothing out of the ordinary.

Beautiful life is happening right around us, all the time, if we simply open our eyes.

Every moment of every day, God is issuing us the invitation

to delight with him, to delight IN him, and in his creation.

Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory in the heavens.

Through the praise of children and infants

you have established a stronghold against your enemies

to silence the foe and the avenger.

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

what is mankind that you are mindful of them,

human beings that you care for them?

You have made them a little lower that the angels

and crowned them with glory and honor.

You made them rulers over the works of your hands;

you put everything under their feet:

all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild,

the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea,

all that swim the paths of the seas.

Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Psalm 8