Written by John Stonestreet, a contemporary author and president of the Colson Center.
How did God capture the attention of a man of great wit and quick intellect like [G.K.] Chesterton? What signal did He use to point Chesterton beyond his anemic worldview to the greater reality of God’s world? Believe it or not, it was a weed. Guinness writes, “Looking at a humble dandelion, [Chesterton] woke up to wonder and became grateful for life. …[T]he humble dandelion told Chesterton that there was beauty in the world, and not just brokenness. Both needed to be explained, together. … He had to look for a philosophy of life that would allow him to explain both the beauty and the brokenness, … to be deeply realistic and yet, as he said, to “enjoy enjoyment” and be grateful.” The seeming absurdity of such simple and often overlooked beauty prompted Chesterton to rethink his worldview. Beauty, even in simple or mundane form, pointed Chesterton to something, or rather Someone, fundamentally good and beautiful behind it all.
Prayer:
Augustine of Hippo (354-430), an early Christian theologian and philosopher. He was the bishop of Hippo Regius (modern day Annaba, Algeria) and is viewed as one of the most important church fathers in Western Christianity.
May the Lord
grant that we may observe all these things with love,
as lovers of spiritual beauty,
radiating by our lives
the sweet fragrance of Christ,
not like slaves under the law
but as free persons
established in grace. Through the same Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen.
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