Eye of the Beholder--Lilies & Geese

Bill Brown ...Xiamen University
Why the lilies & Geese

Luk 12:27 "Think about how the lilies grow. They don't work or make clothing. But here is what I tell you. Not even Solomon in all of his glory was dressed like one of those flowers.

"The wild geese do not intend to cast their reflection; the water has no mind to receive their image." Zen poem

While in beautiful Yongtai, near Fuzhou, we marveled at the beauty of the White Horse Falls, the narrow gorges and streams, the vibrant colors of the wild flowers, butterflies, birds, the rich lushness of the giant ferns--even the mosses on the rocks were beautiful, as if someone had splotched the boulders with bright shades of green paint.

A lone Chinese woodsmen lived near the falls in a wooden cabin, his only companions a scraggly kitten and a beautiful white duck tethered to a rock--and it occurred to me to wonder just why I thought duck was beautiful--or why anything else was "beautiful."

I thought of Jesus comment that not even Solomon in all his glory was dressed like a simple lily of the field--but why is nature beautiful?

The very existence of beauty argues the existence of purpose, direction, and meaning. Beauty truly is in the "eyes of the beholder," and nature and life can be beautiful to us only because we see nature through the eyes of our Father, our creator. If we did not have his heart and soul, his breath to animate us, we would be no more than the animals. A cat catching a fish does not see beauty in the iridiscent sparkling of the fish's wet scales in the sunlight. The eyes of the feline beholder sees nothing but a meal to toy with and then devour.

A 20-year-old would not see beauty, perhaps, in a 60-year-old worn with life, but her husband, who has seen her mature, and mother his children, and become her best friend, would perhaps see more beauty in her than the day he married her--the beauty within that animates her every expression and emotion. He sees beauty in her because he loves her.

The Bible says our Father created the heavens and the earth and then said, "It is good." It was beautiful to Him because he had lovingly created it, and he loved it--and us. And we see beauty in nature because we see through our Father's eyes, whether we care to admit we have such a Father or not.

In an increasingly chaotic world, isn't it refreshing to just sit on a rock in a Fujian mountain spring and bask in the sun, and listen to the rippling creek, and watch the butterflies and listen to the birds? Why do the birds and the creek make music instead of noise?

Beauty and music are in the eyes and ears of the Beholder. We see through our Father's eyes--but what does he see through ours?

Consider the lilies of the field, the wild geese, the canopy of stars at night, and listen for the still small voice of the Father who whispers why it is beautiful.
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