The Beauty of Humanity – Sunday, October 02, 1983
We live in a beautiful world, a world of not only beautiful objects, but of beautiful moments, beautiful experiences. Each season is glorious in its time, and each has its lesson. Presently, the harvested fields are being turned under and the rich aroma of earth and decaying stubble forewarns the snows of winter. And winter will come, then spring, and each beautiful moment of growth and maturity and change will bring forth its scent and scene.
All this beauty is real not only in itself, but it is also an emblem and evidence of Him who made it, as are each of us. The world is made for our instruction as well as our pleasure. However, we may not always see beauty where God made things beautiful. Moments may escape us, and we may focus too much on the evidence of physical things.
When the Lord called upon the Prophet Samuel to anoint David as King of Israel, Samuel was instructed: “Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature…for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.”1
Too frequently in a world of commerce, “outward appearance” becomes an end in itself rather than serving as an emblem of that deeper, more fundamental spiritual beauty. Often a “successful” appearance is regarded as more important than the true success of virtue; too often people are not judged by the beauty of their hearts but by the costliness of their apparel, by the size and year of their automobiles, by the location and square footage of their homes. The beauty and wealth of the earth, which God intended for our edification and enjoyment, becomes merely an indication of rank and status, a means of separating us one from another, and from our God.
As we try to understand and to recognize the beauty of life, it’s important for us to remember that the Savior Himself was not born to wealth or station, but to the simple beauty of a manger. The humility of His birth—of His upbringing as a carpenter and of the society he kept with fishermen—is a lesson to us in how to see our world, and what to look for in it, and what to find in one another.
If we can see beauty where God made it, and if we can learn to see through the beautiful moment to God Himself, then perhaps we’ll understand the beauty of humility—even the humility of the Savior—and the glory of a humble heart.
1 Old Testament, I Samuel 16:7
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October 02, 1983
Broadcast Number 2,824