Beauty Out of Our Messes

Running in the morning has many advantages over running at any other point in the day. It's cooler. There is less traffic. Studies have shown that folks who exercise in the morning are more likely to actually do it over those who schedule their exercise during or after work hours. And, finally, if you start your run just before dawn in Fort Worth, you get to see the most brilliant sunrise sky: bright pink and orange, balanced by the blue sky and silver lining of the clouds. It's often breath-taking, (or is that just the running?)

My route takes me briefly through a golf course, and as par for any good golf course, there are a few water hazards. One of these hazards has a little wooden bridge traversing it, and just when you reach the peak of the bridge and peek down at the water, only the generator in the corner of your eye reveals that you are in the center of civlization. Otherwise, all you see is the beautiful reflection of the glorious sky, pierced by the reflection of the surrounding trees and shrubs.

Last week, while I was just reaching the top of the bridge, I recalled that part of the reason that the the colors of the sky are so beguilling is air pollution. The tiny particles floating around up there bend the light of the sun and affect the colors our eyes perceive. Air pollution is not the inherent reason for the brilliance of the sky, but in that moment it amazed me that God's grace and power allows for beauty to remain or even increase out of our mess instead of simply quenching the sky of its natural splendor. As a person living in a polluted reality, both in myself and the world that surrounds us, this is truly Good News. It's Good News in the sense that renewal, beauty, and hope are not beyond our grasps even when the evidence seems to the contrary. Our violence, be it structural, psychological, or physical, self-directed or targeted toward others, will kill and destroy, but the continual victory of Life will eventually arise out of the ashes we create. We can then reflect thankfully on the voice that intercedes, saying,

I will ransom them from the power of the grave;
I will redeem them from death.
Where, O death, is your sting?
Where, O grave, is your destruction? (Hosea 13:14)

Seeing the beauty of the sky each morning helps me to appreciate mercy and compels me to ceaselessly pursue justice and peace in hopes of stepping one step closer to knowing the love that produces such mercy.