A friend recently sent the link for a video entitled "Starling Murmuration" (link included below). It reveals the wondrous ritual of literally hundreds of thousands of starlings, who at certain times of the year unite in a perfectly coordinated and choreographed dance that defies the imagination and thrills the soul. My initial impression was of a vibrantly living, constantly changing, and beautifully fluctuating art gallery. I've included the link below, and I assure you that wonder awaits upon watching the starlings (sadly, the video does not well capture the sound made by the birds' movement, from which the term "Murmuration" arises).
"Art" implies an artist. God is nothing if He is not that. There is art in His heart, as it were. "Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary" (Psalm 96:6). Creation comprises a canvas upon which the Creator displays not simply His ability - "strength" - but also His imagination - "beauty" - in myriad glories of sight, sound, texture, fragrance, and even flavor ("O taste and see that the Lord is good!" - Psalm 34:8).
For discussion's sake, imagine that the Lord could have made a universe without color, or the rods and cones in our eyes to behold it. He could have omitted sound, and the hearing faculties that absorb, assimilate, and process auditory waves. He could have formed surfaces without texture, or our bodies without the nervous system that processes our capacity for touch and feel. He could have excluded fragrance and flavor from creation, along with our olfactory and gustatory systems that make possible our enjoyment of fragrance and food. Indeed, we must imagine these possibilities because it is not possible that the living God could have acted in such a manner. He is holy, and must do all things in accordance with His character, nature, and way, which includes the blessed truth of art in His heart. Thus, when the Lord created, and as He sustains His creation, He acts in beauty as well as in power. The Great Artist continually draws wonders from the palette of His heart to splash upon the creation canvas, wonders such as seemingly innumerable starlings in such a choreography of flight that no sane human mind can fail to see and worship the Choreographer.
We exist in that vibrantly living, constantly changing, and beautifully fluctuating art gallery. Perceiving the universe, and more importantly, it's Maker, in such terms opens our hearts to joys that can be known anywhere and everywhere. Our senses exist for such appreciation. Our spirits exist for the obvious response of worship. Our tongues exist for grateful exclamations of praise and thanksgiving (although words often fail in the splendors of God's revealed glory). And all, because God exists with art in His heart, and with the desire to display it to those who recognize the sublime gallery in which we live. May we be among that blessed company, and in this day appreciate, worship, and proclaim the glory of the Artist, and the beauty of His art.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88UVJpQGi88
"One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple."
(Psalm 27:4)
"Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us."
(Psalm 90:17)
"Art" implies an artist. God is nothing if He is not that. There is art in His heart, as it were. "Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary" (Psalm 96:6). Creation comprises a canvas upon which the Creator displays not simply His ability - "strength" - but also His imagination - "beauty" - in myriad glories of sight, sound, texture, fragrance, and even flavor ("O taste and see that the Lord is good!" - Psalm 34:8).
For discussion's sake, imagine that the Lord could have made a universe without color, or the rods and cones in our eyes to behold it. He could have omitted sound, and the hearing faculties that absorb, assimilate, and process auditory waves. He could have formed surfaces without texture, or our bodies without the nervous system that processes our capacity for touch and feel. He could have excluded fragrance and flavor from creation, along with our olfactory and gustatory systems that make possible our enjoyment of fragrance and food. Indeed, we must imagine these possibilities because it is not possible that the living God could have acted in such a manner. He is holy, and must do all things in accordance with His character, nature, and way, which includes the blessed truth of art in His heart. Thus, when the Lord created, and as He sustains His creation, He acts in beauty as well as in power. The Great Artist continually draws wonders from the palette of His heart to splash upon the creation canvas, wonders such as seemingly innumerable starlings in such a choreography of flight that no sane human mind can fail to see and worship the Choreographer.
We exist in that vibrantly living, constantly changing, and beautifully fluctuating art gallery. Perceiving the universe, and more importantly, it's Maker, in such terms opens our hearts to joys that can be known anywhere and everywhere. Our senses exist for such appreciation. Our spirits exist for the obvious response of worship. Our tongues exist for grateful exclamations of praise and thanksgiving (although words often fail in the splendors of God's revealed glory). And all, because God exists with art in His heart, and with the desire to display it to those who recognize the sublime gallery in which we live. May we be among that blessed company, and in this day appreciate, worship, and proclaim the glory of the Artist, and the beauty of His art.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88UVJpQGi88
"One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple."
(Psalm 27:4)
"Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us."
(Psalm 90:17)
Weekly Memory Verse
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
(I Corinthians 3:19)
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