Have you noticed how you feel when you\u2019re stuck in traffic in the middle of the city?<\/p>\n
Concrete, noise, brake lights as far as the eye can see.<\/p>\n
And how you feel when you're standing by the sea, or in a forest, or in a field in the morning?<\/p>\n
It's the same body. But it reacts completely differently.<\/p>\n
Because ugliness stresses us, and beauty lifts us. It's not just a matter of taste. It sits inside us.<\/p>\n
The third Tuesday in From Stressed to Blessed. Today it's about something we often overlook when we talk about faith: beauty.<\/p>\n
Have you ever wondered why God made the world so beautiful? He could have made the earth like the moon. Grey, barren, dusty. He chose sunrises, colors no one gets to see, and birdsong over fields where not a single person is standing.<\/p>\n
The first thing he did with human beings was to place them in a garden. Not in a concrete block. In a garden.<\/p>\n
David paints it for us:<\/p>\n
\"He leads me to green meadows and brings me to still waters. He gives me new strength.\" (Psalm 23:2-3)<\/p>\n
You relax just reading it. Green meadows. Still waters.<\/p>\n
The images are so familiar that the body settles down on its own.<\/p>\n
That's why people say they feel close to God in nature. Of course they do. He made it. Beauty is his signature.<\/p>\n
Paul gives the same prescription, but for the mind:<\/p>\n
\"Fix your thoughts on what is true and noble, right and pure, on what is admirable and well spoken of, yes, on everything that is excellent and worthy of praise.\" (Philippians 4:8)<\/p>\n
Everything you give your attention to raises or lowers your stress level.<\/p>\n
And here it's worth being honest about the news. If it bleeds, it leads. We fill our heads with disasters, conflict and quarrels, and then we wonder why we feel uneasy.<\/p>\n
This week, try trading out just some of that time. Set aside twenty minutes of news, and give it to God instead, to the Bible, to music that lifts.<\/p>\n
You'll feel the difference in your body.<\/p>\n
Three small things you can do:<\/p>\n
Get outside every day, even if it's just a walk around the block or lunch eaten on a bench under a tree.<\/p>\n
Begin the day with God instead of with the screen, because the first minutes set the tone for the whole day.<\/p>\n
And put something beautiful around you. Music. Art. Something you create yourself.<\/p>\n
Because beauty is actually one of the strongest testimonies that we are more than a body.<\/p>\n
Music and art are strictly speaking unnecessary for survival. And yet, in every age, people have written songs and painted pictures.<\/p>\n
More songs and books have been written about Jesus than about any other subject in history. Why?<\/p>\n
Because God gave us art to express what words alone cannot carry. You resemble your Creator most when you create something yourself.<\/p>\n
What do you fill your eyes and ears with day to day \u2014 and does it lift you, or does it weigh you down?<\/p>\n
What gives you peace when the world is loud? Feel free to write it in the comments.<\/p>\n
You are more than a body. Give your soul something beautiful to rest beside.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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