The Beauty of His Created Ones

We long to escape and revel in the beauty of God’s glorious creation: to hike through the majesty of mountains, to soak in the restorative power of the ocean. How many poems have been written, how many photos taken or memories savored of the nature that surrounds us? Are we not also His creation?

Jesus said the crux of following him is to love God and love others.  If I am honest, I find the first commandment much easier than the second. In fact, I find loving the Earth much easier than loving the other people who inhabit it.  I can usually find kindness in my heart for another person, but true, genuine love? I can’t remember the last time I sat in wonderment at the beauty and miracle of another human. (Other than my adorable one-year-old boy. When he’s sleeping. Let’s be real.)

Instead of finding that place in my spirit where I can truly praise God for another person, especially one who is not friend or family, I find myself in comparison and judgment.  Let me tell you, comparison and judgment are the opposite of love. Living in that place is awful. As I know God’s commandment and desire to love His created ones, I have tried to stop those thoughts.  I’ve listened to sermons on contentment, confidence, and killing comparison, but do you know how difficult it is to stop doing something you’re focusing on not doing?  Don’t eat that cookie; don’t eat that cookie. Dang it, I ate the cookie.  Don’t compare yourself to her, don’t.  Therefore, I instead have to focus on what I do want more of: love.

When I realized that I have more praise in my heart for the redwoods than for the person standing in front of me in line at the supermarket, I grieved. Yes, God created the redwoods for His glory and for our joy, but how much more than the redwoods does He love His child, the one who is standing in front of me at the supermarket? A parent’s heart is so happy when someone else also loves and celebrates her child.  Can we love and celebrate God’s created ones?  Can we revel in the glorious wonder of another human? Of another human who doesn’t look like we do?  Of another human who disagrees with our perspective? 

So now, I practice. I practice imagining how God thinks of His child, the one who is standing in front of me at the supermarket.  I imagine how her Father loves her smile, and I smile back.  I worship God for her uniqueness.  I ask her a question and listen intently to what she says because her voice is important and what she has to say reflects her beautiful mind.  I practice hiking through the majesty of humanity.  I practice soaking in the restorative power of another individual soul.  Through practice, I have a new palate to savor the most beautiful nature that surrounds me.