Thursday, May 6, 2021

Reflection - Number Our Days - How Does Your Garden Grow?

Source (book): "Teach Us to Number Our Days", Chapter 2, "How Does Your Garden Grow?", Page 18.
By David Roper, Pastor, and regular and popular writer for Our Daily Bread.
 

All Beauty Speaks of Thee. - Edward Grubb
PHOTO: All Beauty Speaks of Thee. - Edward Grubb

I received a letter from an old friend some months ago in which she wrote of her daughter and some things they share in common:

Both of us are loners, enjoying the quiet, thoughtful places in our days . . . both of us [enjoy] devouring words and color, deep friendships, worshiping our Lord, appreciating His gifts . . . and we both like children's stories and outrageous laughter. Her garden is her delight, and it speaks of every part of her character. The first time she really sensed God's presence, many years ago, was in her garden. A memorable time!

As for me, I never cared for gardening when I was younger; it looked too much like work, and I already had too much work to do. Lately, however, I've taken to gardening, though the joke around our place is that flowers come to our house to die. I'm an old man but a very young gardener.

I must say, however, despite my inexperience and ineptitude (lack of skill or ability), that gardening has become my delight. I too sense God's presence in my garden in ways I cannot explain. "To me the meanest flower that blows can give thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears." Why this sentiment? What is this beauty I see?


Why this sentiment? What is this beauty I see?
"Beautiful things are those which please when seen," Thomas Aquinas said, but his answer has never quite satisfied me. It merely evokes another question: why are some things pleasing when seen? Explanations elude me. Beauty is intuitive, instinctive, I think. but inexplicable (unexplainable). I don't know what beauty is, but I know it when I see it, and I think you do too.

Beauty, however, as pleasing as it is, does not exist for itself. In fact, beauty for the sake of beauty diminishes beauty, as art for the sake of art diminishes art. We've all had the experience of seeing or possessing something exquisitely beautiful and finding sooner or later that it has lost its appeal. We no longer see it as a beautiful thing. Indeed, we no longer see it at all.

No, beauty looks beyond itself. It points to something richer and better; it "leads and lends to further sweetness, / Fuller, higher, deeper than its own."

Philosopher and poet Samuel Coleridge made the same point in an essay in which he recalled the reaction of two tourists admiring a waterfall. One thought it was "pretty"; the other considered it "sublime (awesome)" - so awe-inspiringly beautiful that it evoked reverence. Coleridge thought the latter sentiment preferable. When one sees authentic beauty, the only appropriate response is to kneel.

Lately, however, my eyes have been opened to a deeper beauty than I see in my garden. It's the loveliness of old friends whose goodness can only be described as beautiful. Where goodness flourishes so does beauty, and there's nothing quite so lovely as one whom God has made strong, radiant, and beautiful. Folks like that make me long for the goodness that can produce such loveliness and for the One who is its source. It tells me how beautiful He must be who first thought of beauty and by His word brought it into being.

Early Greek writers understood this correlation between goodness and beauty and coined a word for it: kalokagathon, a contraction of three words - kalos (beautiful), kai (and) and agathon (good). Kalolagathon doesn't appear in the New Testament, but was often used by early Christian writers. Ignatius of Antioch, a first-century believer, wrote,

None of these things escapes your notice, if you are maturing in faith and love towards Jesus Christ. For these are the beginning and end of life: faith is the beginning, and love is the end, and the two, when they exist in unity, are Godlike. Everything else that contributes to moral beauty (kalokagathian) follows from them.

This notion of goodness as moral beauty intrigues (fascinates) me as I age, for mortal beauty is like a flower that, for all its loveliness, soon withers away. We've amazed, as we look in the mirror, how rapidly whatever portion of "good looks" we once enjoyed has faded away. The beauty of holiness, on the other hand, is "unfading." (1 Peter 3:4)

How can we have this amaranthine (everlasting) beauty?
"Faith is the beginning," Ignatius said. Goodness and saintly character is the work of God, the product of humble dependence on Him. We must ask for it every day.

"The Lord takes pleasure in His people," Israel's psalmist said, "He will beautify the humble." (Psalm 149:4)
Picture posted by Jodi Sky Rogers
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwrhz8UsYrmFcqce3BusICokfvOLos8X7s6izW7_q053QjpGRVJxxb4U_xmXpUbvU-nrjzV6ygNVCBeBoygMbUM2JZUhjmSFD-T0jNK_-6SzQHoX830KbWcLZQgmcA8q24YnPm-GvY2kI/s2048/adobestock_44062182.jpeg
https://jodiskyrogersdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2019/05/adobestock_44062182.jpeg
https://jodiskyrogers.com/2019/05/16/horticulture-therapy-a-gentle-healing-path-through-subfertility-and-loss/
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/03/20-year-battle-with-alcohol-addiction.html


All Beauty Speaks of Thee. - Edward Grubb

I received a letter from an old friend some months ago in which she wrote of her daughter and some things they share in common:

Both of us are loners, enjoying the quiet, thoughtful places in our days . . . both of us [enjoy] devouring words and color, deep friendships, worshiping our Lord, appreciating His gifts . . . and we both like children's stories and outrageous laughter. Her garden is her delight, and it speaks of every part of her character. The first time she really sensed God's presence, many years ago, was in her garden. A memorable time!


Dear Lord
PHOTO: Her garden is her delight, and it speaks of every part of her character. The first time she really sensed God's presence, many years ago, was in her garden. A memorable time!
Picture posted by Ulmer
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxBW6jzZNY-Yh-Y2BaXJpJfUaActorQGcCJLhNJE323cbbUeQKIJb43__ixRkdVbGx60qx1HHfmRQG8tTpCfFSLvoqGW6Rg7OK6d1mdrIkfnVXzC-A-nP1-d2IYasmfnLVUT79CULu0Ug/s1500/176553038_11.png
https://www.ulmer-verlag.de/Vorlagen/Webapp/Cache/CMS/10020/Poster-Garten-FJ2020_NjU5NzMzMlo.JPG
https://www.ulmer-verlag.de/Handel/Werbemittel-Poster/166799.html
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/03/20-year-battle-with-alcohol-addiction.html


As for me, I never cared for gardening when I was younger; it looked too much like work, and I already had too much work to do. Lately, however, I've taken to gardening, though the joke around our place is that flowers come to our house to die. I'm an old man but a very young gardener.


I've taken to gardening, though the joke around our place is that flowers come to our house to die.
PHOTO: I've taken to gardening, though the joke around our place is that flowers come to our house to die. I'm an old man but a very young gardener.
Picture posted by ImuPro Australian & New Zealand
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5DVEzdwLW2H00LoSHBIP9U4H_vIqOnZLzNrGLFH7BZOj1T9BDBAIWLs0_G-X22WRAb8aHeS6pACwy_Lx7eBSMPCHu-KGJeC2iwD10QRIUN3ZM4mGHZdgYXt9rW4CFFNQWwJXSVGRfC-s/s2048/pexels-photo-413707.jpeg
https://imupro.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/pexels-photo-413707.jpeg
https://imupro.com.au/blog/category/food-allergy/


I must say, however, despite my inexperience and ineptitude (lack of skill or ability), that gardening has become my delight. I too sense God's presence in my garden in ways I cannot explain. "To me the meanest flower that blows can give thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears." [9] Why this sentiment? What is this beauty I see?


Despite my inexperience and ineptitude (lack of skill or ability), that gardening has become my delight.
PHOTO: Despite my inexperience and ineptitude (lack of skill or ability), that gardening has become my delight. I too sense God's presence in my garden in ways I cannot explain. "To me the meanest flower that blows can give thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears."
Picture posted by ShaunReynolds, The Origin of Species Endangered
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5EBEk3e4TijAZ1tM1fsp2oJPKk71o7naF8U0IYMNc75sJKYfVhqZaOEJkK6d3_3-qKvOIoGFfKmpGRpbug7pkkt_ahkP5qbYJVxDHQE8OLFYDekuUwI5_5vOdC6AqmMH0DUWS8yNcIDQ/s701/4750352.jpg
http://www.shaunreynolds.com/uploads/1/9/3/1/1931078/4750352.jpg
http://www.shaunreynolds.com/the-origin-of-species-endangered.html


Why this sentiment? What is this beauty I see?
"Beautiful things are those which please when seen," Thomas Aquinas said, but his answer has never quite satisfied me. It merely evokes another question: why are some things pleasing when seen? Explanations elude me. Beauty is intuitive, instinctive, I think. but inexplicable (unexplainable). I don't know what beauty is, but I know it when I see it, and I think you do too.


Beautiful things are those which please when seen
PHOTO: "Beautiful things are those which please when seen," said Thomas Aquinas. Beauty is intuitive, instinctive but inexplicable. I don't know what beauty is, but I know it when I see it.
Picture posted by Khải Anh, SaoStar on 13 September 2020 at 13:00
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsZP9uaqYhii0OP_ueOwUGd3tSYUYnp3O8noqR_WO3smjlqqxLpm9M_wR-V3eay7Yegvm7pKfRts_uWBo4iTS2GOm-uMTbIhmWx_E8r2mQaE-PMFP6_3IOGhp86WHEV7OKANT997vJdQA/s1248/Kh%25E1%25BA%25A3i+Anh_6.jpg
PHOTO: Why are some things pleasing when seen? Explanations elude me. Beauty, however, as pleasing as it is, does not exist for itself.
Picture posted by songlathe.com on 02 September 2020
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmEX0uuTl-MvYL7PlAhaKL8-sMbYoWY4ZiHqlUlJCXpzMbGEL3BkAKEZrLtLBRYvv0biuVu9stLm5TjIuYnE02i1q9gVYKxQGSuqQ0r8XJIJNglbibunABLVuL0KijrKjyOfaSiwp75-Y/s824/sau-nghi-van-ran-nut-huynh-anh-khoe-hinh-anh-kho-cuong-tren-sa-pa-dan-mang-sao-len-nui-lai-mac-bd196kd196c9b4d196-26380-1.jpg
https://songlathe.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/sau-nghi-van-ran-nut-huynh-anh-khoe-hinh-anh-kho-cuong-tren-sa-pa-dan-mang-sao-len-nui-lai-mac-bd196kd196c9b4d196-26380-1.jpg
https://songlathe.com/sao/sao-viet/sau-nghi-van-ran-nut-huynh-anh-khoe-hinh-anh-kho-cuong-tren-sa-pa-dan-mang-sao-len-nui-lai-mac-b%D1%96k%D1%96%C9%B4%D1%96/


Beauty, however, as pleasing as it is, does not exist for itself. In fact, beauty for the sake of beauty diminishes beauty, as art for the sake of art diminishes art. We've all had the experience of seeing or possessing something exquisitely beautiful and finding sooner or later that it has lost its appeal. We no longer see it as a beautiful thing. Indeed, we no longer see it at all.

No, beauty looks beyond itself. It points to something richer and better; it "leads and lends to further sweetness, / Fuller, higher, deeper than its own." [10]


Beauty looks beyond itself.
PHOTO: Beauty looks beyond itself. It points to something richer and better; it "leads and lends to further sweetness, / Fuller, higher, deeper than its own."
Picture saved by Craig Tucker to Girls
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzzt7l6dvKD5QBybpNseKyIrbXzhufPSNwfMrrRQMykoJiJOzNHuYImAlGEWi45j5Tx1GJvWNEEO3nRH-ucn0mgspDzpMjYnxRLumsDxVGXtYvFlOQh7fxkMCtlQbWkbbhE66o63ttM1M/s1500/12e00999bec3d79d61c2be6e422d91dd_1.png
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/12/e0/09/12e00999bec3d79d61c2be6e422d91dd.jpg
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/710231803721962498/


Philosopher and poet Samuel Coleridge made the same point in an essay in which he recalled the reaction of two tourists admiring a waterfall. One thought it was "pretty"; the other considered it "sublime (awesome)" - so awe-inspiringly beautiful that it evoked reverence. Coleridge thought the latter sentiment preferable. When one sees authentic beauty, the only appropriate response is to kneel.


When one sees authentic beauty, the only appropriate response is to kneel.
PHOTO: When one sees authentic beauty, the only appropriate response is to kneel.
Picture posted by Pixabay
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjafOdwY4HA1x0aKU5vJxlBfmom2Sob_2d0J76UUoVa8hsY42rPlnNwW-En1vZA8Vobg_89fFk1Zk93p7Ll36UB0FgX6zoQA_pJKACalP7RGgASpu-w_1C0GVNJ3LyfLRgvKDKn8f1Z9Pk/s2048/girl-pray-sky-clouds-157674.jpeg
https://images.pexels.com/photos/157674/girl-pray-sky-clouds-157674.jpeg
https://www.pexels.com/photo/clouds-girl-pray-royalty-free-157674/


Lately, however, my eyes have been opened to a deeper beauty than I see in my garden. It's the loveliness of old friends whose goodness can only be described as beautiful. Where goodness flourishes so does beauty, and there's nothing quite so lovely as one whom God has made strong, radiant, and beautiful. [11] Folks like that make me long for the goodness that can produce such loveliness and for the One who is its source. It tells me how beautiful He must be who first thought of beauty and by His word brought it into being.


The loveliness of old friends whose goodness can only be described as beautiful, open our eyes to a deeper beauty than we see in a garden.
PHOTO: The loveliness of old friends whose goodness can only be described as beautiful, open our eyes to a deeper beauty than we see in a garden.
Picture posted by Westend61
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikknksJUpQXzmfq8tkDxWMXBvaeYzbZGI2DzY8QTuu9pqg3LP-y5J2HmiBAgi4fpjjlEV6yuN2Ljnid_qLT2YGBFLEO7KgeSQ31CymjtaIcPHvybX4mwvp8Rknnnm2aC-3ASHmXt2JaYk/s1232/two-old-friends-sitting-by-the-riverside-having-fun-UUF15511.jpg
https://images.westend61.de/0001056375pw/two-old-friends-sitting-by-the-riverside-having-fun-UUF15511.jpg
https://www.westend61.de/en/imageView/UUF15511/two-old-friends-sitting-by-the-riverside-having-fun


Early Greek writers understood this correlation between goodness and beauty and coined a word for it: kalokagathon, a contraction of three words - kalos (beautiful), kai (and) and agathon (good). Kalolagathon doesn't appear in the New Testament, [12] but was often used by early Christian writers. Ignatius of Antioch, a first-century believer, wrote,

None of these things escapes your notice, if you are maturing in faith and love towards Jesus Christ. For these are the beginning and end of life: faith is the beginning, and love is the end, and the two, when they exist in unity, are Godlike. Everything else that contributes to moral beauty (kalokagathian) follows from them. [13]


Faith is the beginning, and love is the end, if you are maturing in faith and love towards Jesus Christ.
PHOTO: Faith is the beginning, and love is the end, if you are maturing in faith and love towards Jesus Christ. Everything else that contributes to moral beauty (kalokagathian) follows from them.
Picture posted by Le livre de mormon on 01 December 2020
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTQqHeTnhG1NORhgoZ485OGkqlEuqhVrbHMZ0Rhxv7NcmnzMd5oasamVPAvZzUGiravTJHSmgCFSECeP1h1gC4AjdYMMtq6ttnWsskeSYl3LSIF7IOsksR6W1zVsC8uxbYUepVY9lOiW8/s1600/128944998_2075157302615614_9214839165236288180_n.jpg
https://scontent.fsin9-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/128944998_2075157302615614_9214839165236288180_n.jpg?_nc_cat=109&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=8bfeb9&_nc_ohc=ePIUWn0lHTgAX_rfka_&_nc_ht=scontent.fsin9-2.fna&oh=92918ae3f4b5740f6c6ed14d226b584c&oe=60B6A576
https://www.facebook.com/748953415236016/photos/a.1878634772267869/2075157295948948/


This notion of goodness as moral beauty intrigues (fascinates) me as I age, for mortal beauty is like a flower that, for all its loveliness, soon withers away. We've amazed, as we look in the mirror, how rapidly whatever portion of "good looks" we once enjoyed has faded away. The beauty of holiness, on the other hand, is "unfading." (1 Peter 3:4) [14]


Mortal beauty is like a flower that, for all its loveliness, soon withers away.
PHOTO: Mortal beauty is like a flower that, for all its loveliness, soon withers away. The beauty of holiness, on the other hand, is "unfading." (1 Peter 3:4)
Picture posted by nkp
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFooSzTB0T3uGzElV_VCc1J6_5kby7lhSlwtUeJzUVh8XMQP-pokEAz9QDmkn5Ix_vVmKSacw5UohSCnTeiflwdORaZKCFmF2jp9yUb_l-duiOtnWVkISyqMCvn4N-jKjJ17x28ufYuGw/s2000/7d1ce2a4aa98bef7764a7353cea8519f39b07ee0.png
https://www.nkp.hu/api/media/file/7d1ce2a4aa98bef7764a7353cea8519f39b07ee0
https://www.nkp.hu/media/megtekint/425575488


How can we have this amaranthine (everlasting) beauty?
"Faith is the beginning," Ignatius said. Goodness and saintly character is the work of God, the product of humble dependence on Him. We must ask for it every day.

"The Lord takes pleasure in His people," Israel's psalmist said, "He will beautify the humble." (Psalm 149:4) [15]


The Lord takes pleasure in His people
PHOTO: "Dear Lord, we learn that we can sense God's presence in our garden in ways we cannot explain. And ‘the meanest flower that blows can give thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears.’

Lord, we ask ourselves what is this beauty we see, and learn that beautiful things are those which please when seen. But this does not explain why some things are pleasing when seen. Beauty is intuitive, instinctive, but inexplicable. We don't know what beauty is, but we know it when we see it.

Lord, we learn too, beauty however pleasing, does not exist for itself. We've all had the experience of seeing or possessing something exquisitely beautiful and finding sooner or later that it has lost its appeal. We no longer see it as a beautiful thing. Indeed, we no longer see it at all.

We learn that beauty looks beyond itself. It points to something richer and better; it ‘leads and lends to further sweetness, / Fuller, higher, deeper than its own.’ When something is so awe-inspiringly beautiful, it evoked reverence. When one sees authentic beauty, the only appropriate response is to kneel.

There is the loveliness of old friends whose goodness can only be described as beautiful. Where goodness flourishes so does beauty, and there's nothing quite so lovely as one whom God has made strong, radiant, and beautiful. People like that make us long for the goodness that can produce such loveliness and for the One who is its source. It tells us how beautiful He must be who first thought of beauty and by His word brought it into being.

We learn that none of these things escapes our notice, if we are maturing in faith and love towards Jesus Christ. For these are the beginning and end of life: faith is the beginning, and love is the end, and the two, when they exist in unity, are Godlike. Everything else that contributes to moral beauty (kalokagathian) follows from them.

Moral beauty intrigues us. Although mortal beauty is like a flower that, for all its loveliness, soon withers away. The beauty of holiness, on the other hand, is ‘unfading.’

We pray for this amaranthine beauty. Help us to start by having faith in You. We ask for our humble dependence on You, as You produce goodness and saintly character in us. May the Lord take pleasure in us, His people. And beautify us, the humble.

Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by Deepak Jain, Artstation
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https://cdnb.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/015/480/745/large/deepak-jain-fantasy-garden.jpg?1548509466
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/v190Zv

Reflection - Number Our Days - How Does Your Garden Grow?
Source (book): "Teach Us to Number Our Days", Chapter 2, "How Does Your Garden Grow?", Page 18.
By David Roper, Pastor, and regular and popular writer for Our Daily Bread.


Other Books

"Faithful to the end", A Preacher's Exposition of 2 Timothy, @ 2014 by Robert M. Solomon

'Faithful to the end', A Preacher's Exposition of 2 Timothy, @ 2014 by Robert M. Solomon<br>
Reflection - Faithful to the end (Links)
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2017/06/reflection-faithful-to-end-links.html


"Finding rest for the soul" Responding to Jesus' Invitation in Matthew 11:28-29, © 2016 by Robert M. Solomon

Reflection - Finding rest for the soul (Links)
Reflection - Finding rest for the soul (Links)
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2018/10/reflection-finding-rest-for-soul-links.html


"God in Pursuit" Lessons from the Book of Jonah, © 2016 by Robert M. Solomon

'Reflection - God in Pursuit (Links) - PART I-III, posted on Saturday, 10 August 2019
Reflection - God in Pursuit (Links) - PART I-III, posted on Saturday, 10 August 2019
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2019/08/reflection-god-in-pursuit-links-part-i.html


"God in Pursuit" Lessons from the Book of Jonah, © 2016 by Robert M. Solomon

'Reflection - God in Pursuit (Links) - PART IV, posted on Saturday, 10 August 2019
Reflection - God in Pursuit (Links) - PART IV, posted on Saturday, 10 August 2019
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2019/08/reflection-god-in-pursuit-links-part-iv.html 


"Songs of Christmas", The Stories and Significance of 20 Well-Loved Carols, © 2018 by Robert M. Solomon

Reflection - Songs of Christmas (Links), posted on Friday, 24 April 2020
Reflection - Songs of Christmas (Links), posted on Friday, 24 April 2020
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2020/04/reflection-songs-of-christmas-links.html
 

"Growing Old Gracefully", Following Jesus to the End, © 2019 by Robert M. Solomon

Reflection - Growing Old Gracefully, Part I - III (Links), posted on Wednesday, 09 December 2020
Reflection - Growing Old Gracefully, Part I - III (Links), posted on Wednesday, 09 December 2020
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2020/12/reflection-growing-old-gracefully-part.html
 

Reflection - Growing Old Gracefully, Part IV - V (Links), posted on Thursday, 22 April 2021
Reflection - Growing Old Gracefully, Part IV - V (Links), posted on Thursday, 22 April 2021
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2020/12/reflection-growing-old-gracefully-part_9.html



Reference
[1] From "Teach Us to Number Our Days", Copyright © 2008 by David Roper, ISBN 978-981-11-7184-0, Chapter 2, "How Does Your Garden Grow?", Page 18-22.

[9] William Wordsworth

[10] William Thackeray

[11] The old philosophers - Plato, Aristotle, and Cicero, among many - tell us that beauty is a real idea that exists apart from the material world, one of three "transcendentals" - truth and goodness being the other two. The good, the true, and the beautiful lie beyond us, they say, but are essential to our being. There's a logical order of the three: Truth manifests itself as goodness, which in turn is beautiful when you see it. Our perception of the three, however, is the other way around: Beauty leads us to goodness and goodness to truth, or in Christian thought, to Truth, i.e., God himself.

[12] Kalos, however, does appear in the New Testament and is one of Peter's favorite words: "Live such good/beautiful (kalos) lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good/beautiful (kalos) deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us." The Old Testament word tob enshrines the same idea, meaning both "good" and "beautiful." It is the word used to describe creation and God's assessment that it was very "good/beautiful." It is the word the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament Scriptures, uses in the term "good (beautiful) old age."

[13] Ephesians 14:1?

[14] 1 Peter 3:4

[15] Psalm 149:4, emphasis added


Links


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