Genesis is Beautiful

Recently, I learned that the Hebrew word for "good" is also "beautiful".  Reread the first chapter of Genesis  substituting "good" with "beautiful".  You will get a very different feeling of that powerful account.  The light is beautiful.   The waters are beautiful.  The stars in the heavens, the plants that grow, and the birds of the air are beautiful  Everything that God created is beautiful, including you and  me.  The world has a way of saying that we are ugly, not God.  And the sad truth is that we come to believe the world.  In God's eyes, we are all beautiful.  We are all exactly what God intended.  We are all the work of God's hands.  This is a word of grace in our lives.

There was an old TV show called Cheers.  The comedy is set in a bar in Boston.  One of the main characters, early on in the show, was an older gentleman by the name of Coach.  He was gentle, funny, and a little confused.  In one of the shows, his daughter comes to visit.  He goes on and on about how beautiful she is.  When she arrives, she is not beautiful in the eyes of the world.  She is not beautiful in her own eyes.  At the end of the show, she confronts her father.  "Look at me", she says, "Really look at me."  She wants him to realize that she is not the beauty he tells everyone she is.  Coach takes a close look and gasps, "Oh my, I never realized how much you looked like your mother."  At that moment, his daughter realizes that her father will always see her as beautiful and she opens herself to the gift and says to him, "And mom was beautiful".  In the eyes of God, we are all beautiful.  May we be open to that gift of grace. 

Pentecost: Don't Get Lost in the Special Effects

My wife and I just saw the movie "Super 8".  We thoroughly enjoyed the show.  Without giving away too much, the movie is about a group of young people who, while filming a movie, are a witness to a train crash.  What they do not know at the time is that an unknown monster escapes from that train and becomes the cause of a number of strange incidents in the town.  What we loved about the movie is that the story did not get lost in the special effects.  The movie is really about that group of young people, their relationship with each other, their interactions, and their decisions in response to a crisis.  We enjoyed the special effects, but we were moved by the young people and their story.   

Pentecost is one of those stories in the Bible where you can get lost in the special effects.  Those effects include the wind that blows through the room where the disciples are gathered, the Holy Spirit descending as tongues of fire on each person, and the miracle of those disciples, running out into the streets of Jerusalem, being able to speak all the various languages of the people who had come to Jerusalem.  All in all, the special effects are quite amazing.  What can be lost is what I believe is the true miracle, the story underneath the special effects.  What I find amazing is that all those people in Jerusalem, who listened to those first disciples speaking in their own language, heard the disciples' witness as good news.  The wonder of Pentecost is that the Gospel is universal, not the wind, fire, or gift of language.  The truth is that every person want to know that they are loved by God.  Every person wants to know they are forgiven.  Every person want the promise of new life.  The list continues with hope, peace, joy, purpose, etc.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ is for everyone.  That is the story of Pentecost.  That is what we celebrate.  And that wonder should not be lost is the special effects.