In my compound, surrounded by concrete, sits a garden of beauty...reds, oranges, yellows, pinks. The flowers greet me in the morning and remind me of how we as humans are attracted to beauty. With my garden in full bloom, my eyes don't dwell on the brown, mud-brick walls, or the gray cement. They dart straight for the brilliant colors and complementing hues of the flowers.
Beauty can be found in unlikely places here, hidden in the lines etched on a woman's face, peeking out from under her scarf. It can be found in the hand that slips into mine by a little girl walking down the street next to me. It can be found in the lilting language as someone says, "you are like family to me." There is dust and dirt and sweltering heat and violence and fear, but there is a beauty to be found in this land.
I'm also finding there is a beauty to be found in the spiritual desert. In seasons of dryness, when the voice of God seems a far-off whisper, when circumstances buffet us like a storm, when people wound us in uexpected ways, Beauty breaks through. The soft breeze of the Spirit blows through our life. The nearness of God breaks the distance of humanity. He kisses our foreheads and floods our hearts. And we can't help but turn our eyes to the beauty and away from the grays and browns and dullness of our lives.
Let us fix our eyes on Him!
