Beauty Bittersweet

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""Pretty? Oh, pretty doesn't seem the right word to use. Nor beautiful, either. They don't go far enough. Oh, it was wonderful--wonderful. It's the first thing I ever saw that couldn't be improved upon by imagination. It just satisfies me here' --she put one hand on her breast-- 'it made a queer funny ache and yet it was a pleasant ache.'" ~ Anne Shirley, Anne of Green Gables

***

Do you ever feel a queer, exquisite pain when you see something truly lovely? I do. I'll see the sun shining through the trees, or the lights of Portland shining on the river at night, and the sudden rush of joy I feel will be mingled with what Anne very aptly described as an ache. Now, why do you suppose that is? Why should the sight of something so beautiful give me pain?

Perhaps it's the knowledge of the transience of the moment. The sun moves, light shifts and fades, trees are felled, morning dawns, and the mystery of night slips away. The beauty of an instant is shadowed by a consciousness that the moment will soon be gone.

I think this may be a part of it. But I tend to think that another part of it stems from a feeling that I am unable to fully appreciate what I am seeing. I cherish the hope that when the distractions of the flesh are gone, I shall be able to appreciate truth and beauty in a way that I never can in this fallen world.

Someday this world will be renewed. The beauty we see here on earth is just a shadow of the wondrous land to come. Those who have placed their faith in Christ shall be renewed, too. And with unclouded eyes we shall behold creation as it was meant to be.

I can't wait.