Beauty and Brokenness

We have a spectacular view. Sitting on the balcony of a hotel, looking over the water, watching the sunset. It’s stunning, soothing, restful.

I have been so fortunate to have visited some truly beautiful and awe-inspiring places. They are places that provoke a sense of wonder, where you stand still, silent, mesmerized.

The sunrise on Mt. Haleakala, the sunset over the Pacific in Same Ecuador, the Swiss Alps, a cove in Fish Hoek, South Africa, a beach in Thailand, bright colors on a barren backdrop in India.

They are sites and places that make you wonder about God, his beauty and his majesty. Places of light. There’s a time for that. A time to rest and heal and wonder. A time to remember there is beauty in the world. 

And there is a time to work in the darkness.

I have never visited a place where I haven’t seen heartbreak. There are dark places, where people are broken, hurting and abused. We need to look at them. Touch them. Enter into their pain, and experience the heart of God. 

We can’t enjoy the one and forsake the other. It’s not a whole experience and diminishes our understanding of God. The beauty and brokenness are both true. Both need our attention.  

But never forget to return to the mountain (wherever that is for you) and experience God's wonder. Without it, the world is dark and hopeless. Work in the darkness, look to the light.