Key Links: Welcome | Favorite Movie Quotes | Guestbook | XML | Contact Us

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

posted by Molly @ 5:32 PM   4 comments

4 Comments:

At 9:55 PM, February 16, 2005, Blogger Pilgrim in Progress said...

You know, the thing that amazes me about flowers is no matter how close you get, they're still beautiful. The more you zoom in, the more beauty is revealed. And what amazes me still further is that their beauty is still there even if I am not. Just like sunsets - God has been painting them for millions of years, each one a blaze of glory that we simply cannot duplicate on canvas or film. God does this, not for my sake, but for his. Simply because he delights in beautiful sunrises and sunsets which he alone can create.

God is big and yet I am small. He doesn't need me, but he doesn't need flowers either, and in spite of this he not only created both flowers and man, but he gives us eyes to see and ears to hear that we might realize just how beautiful this hunk of rock really is.

Sure, Solomon in his finest glory could not match the splendor of the lillies of the field, but God spared not his only son for people not flowers. And he did it while we were still sinners.

Says something significant about the beauty of those around us, both saints -AND- sinners...

 
At 10:43 PM, February 16, 2005, Blogger Charles said...

Random Thoughts: Oh, how very non-artistic of you ;)

Christian: I remember a discussion that I had with Marilyn about some wackos who prayed for the souls of animals or something like that. I asked her whether this was sacrilegious, and she said yes, because animals don't have souls. Wouldn't this be true for the flowers as well.

I see what you are saying, and I shouldn't let little things like this get in the way of a beautiful comment like yours, but can we chalk up the fact that Jesus came to save us and not the flowers because, by definition, the flowers didn't need saving?

 
At 6:00 AM, February 17, 2005, Blogger Pilgrim in Progress said...

Charles: Precisely. People need saving, because people have rebelled against God. Of course the reason people are even capable of sinner is because we are different than the flowers - they are created by God; we are created in the image of God.

The amazing thing to me, is that God cares about both flowers and people. He really didn't have to. But he does.

Furthermore, I am reminded of how much more beautiful/valuable we are than flowers or sunsets or any other part of creation - I am valuable, not because of anything in myself, but rather because God values me. So much so that he was willing to send Jesus to his death that I might be saved. That's pretty significant.

If there is no God, how are you and I really any different (or worth any more) than the flowers?

 
At 11:51 AM, February 17, 2005, Blogger Molly said...

Charles: I'm glad you like my photography. You might be glad to note that I've removed that comment from my profile, in light of the fact that I'm trying to cultivate artsiness in myself.

On a more serious note - and I think I might be in danger here of frustrating some people with my perspective - I think that in a sense you could say that Christ came to earth to save the flowers.

What I am NOT saying is that the flowers have souls, or that dogs have souls (even though I love my dogs oh-so-much!). On that note I agree completely with Christian's comments above.

What I AM saying is that part of the nature of sin is that it has cast this world into what the Bible calls bondage and futility. A major part of what happened when Adam and Eve sinned is that death entered the world. In a sense, "death" is shorthand for everything that goes wrong in the world. Probably the best way to describe this is to refer to all of the natural disasters that we see around us -- when the world was not "subjected to futility" and decay, tsunamis did not kill twice as many people as live in my hometown; earthquakes did not swallow up large portions of people; poisonous plants did not kill people; animals did not prey on one another.

So that means that when Christ conquered death, he also made a way for all of these conditions of life to be made right again, too. I don't know exactly what that will look like, but when I look at all of the suffering around me, I'm grateful that "salvation" is not relegated to simply getting my soul out of hell.

God's program in this broken world is to set everything right - no more death, no more tears, no more fruitless labor, no natural disasters ...

For biblical texts on this, you could look at Isaiah 65:17-25; Romans 8:19-22; Revelation 21:3-5.

 

Post a Comment

<< Home