(*Quote of the Month)
It is easier to enjoy beauty than to sense the
holy. To be able to encounter the spirit within beauty, however, we must learn
to crave for an affinity with the pathos of God.
~~Abraham Joshua Heschel
Abraham Heschel
(1907-1972) was a Polish-born American rabbi of the reform tradition, an
author, philosopher, mystic, civil rights activist, and one of the leading
Jewish theologians of the century. The quote is from one of his more famous
books, God in Search of Man, which I
read while in seminary. He also has a principal book on Sabbath called,
appropriately, The Sabbath, which I read
again recently and would recommend to any Christ follower wanting to deepen
their understanding of sacred time and their practice of this first commandment.
Heschel insists, along
with those of the Orthodox Christian tradition, that God is the source of all beauty,
including that in nature, and that beauty can only be fully appreciated in a
context in which one also integrates profound gratitude for
The Psalmist understood
that notion as well: Great are the works
of the Lord, pondered by all who delight in them! (Psalm 111:2)
May you sense kinship
with God today, and may that relationship lead you to a deeper awe when you see
something beautiful.
~~RGM, October 24, 2013
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