A Thing of Beauty

For Father’s Day my youngest daughter gave me a book called “Daily Joy”. It was a thoughtful gift because it contains 365 inspirational quotes, one for each day of the year, which I can use for my Monday Messages. My wife saw me open this gift and told me the quote on the back cover was her favorite of all time. The quote by John Keats is… A thing of beauty is a joy forever.

 

When she told me it was her favorite quote, I asked her why? She said, “I don’t know. I just like it.” I explained, “No, what I’m asking is….Why is a thing of beauty a joy forever? We thought about it and talked about it and then we came up with an answer together. It’s because once you experience a thing of beauty, once you taste it, touch it, feel it or see it…it becomes emblazoned into your memory forever. You can always recall it and re-experience it in your mind.

 

My wife’s lost wedding ring is a good example. Back in December of last year, Debby was at a Board Meeting when she noticed the main diamond missing from her ring. All the people stopped what they were doing and helped her search the building. Eventually someone found it on the floor of the restroom. Debby was thrilled and wrapped the diamond and the rest of the ring carefully in a tissue and stuck it in her purse. When we got home she put the tissue into a ziplock baggie intending to take it in for repair. A few days went by and when it was time to go to the jewelry store, she couldn’t find the baggie. The house cleaners had come the day before and with great horror she realized that they must have thought the baggie was trash and thrown it away. That ring contained precious family diamonds as well as a diamond I gave her so it had huge sentimental and emotional value. It was gone, but the memory will never be, and that joy will last forever.

 

Perhaps that’s the way it is with faith as well. My faith in God is based on life experiences that I have had over many years. I can no longer see, taste or touch them, but I can definitely feel their effect on my life. I have called on God for help many times and He has always been there for me. Sometimes it might be in ways I don’t understand at the time, but when I look back, I see the beauty in what He did for me…and it gives me great joy…which will last forever!

 

I also like the way God will throw a few surprises into our lives from time to time. A few days ago my wife and I were driving to work and we were running late, so we left in a hurry. My wife had a pair of earrings in her hand when she jumped into my truck, intending to put them in on the way to work. However, she realized she was already wearing earrings. (That’s my Lucy!) Anyway, she opened the glove box to look for something to put the earrings into and lo and behold…what did she find…a baggie with something precious inside!

 Faith is putting all your eggs in God's basket,

and then counting your blessings before they hatch. 

~ Ramona C. Carroll