Glimpses of Beauty at Sunrise and Sunset
I have recently been blessed to experience beautiful weather along with magnificent sunrises and sunset. Such moments of aesthetic appeal call to my mind other instances of natural beauty that I have been blessed to see. I am reminded of a return flight from Australia during which I viewed the most captivating burnt orange aura encircling the earth as the sun set over the earth's horizon. I also recall many late summer evenings when everything around seemed to radiate in an extraordinary way. The sunrise that I witnessed this morning was no different. In every case, these glimpses of beauty have brought me to ponder God more deeply.
Romano Guardini is the author of a book whose final pages capture this reality as well. The Living God concludes with a reflection on the "gentle and powerful beauty [that] reigns over all." This is the reason that natural events (sunrises, sunsets, schools of fish swimming, etc.) and natural forms (mountains, canyons, coral reefs, etc.) can attract us so powerfully at many moments in this life. God's glory pokes through in tiny rays of light now, like rays of sunlight penetrating through clouds. We look forward to the "promise of things to come" (Guardini, 146).
In the same reflection, however, Guardini writes that we are not meant to limit our focus during these moments. Beauty in this life is meant to help us anticipate something far greater. At the moment of Christ's second coming, "an excess of glory" and beauty will "break forth from the whole creation." In this moment, God's incomprehensible love for all creation and creatures will penetrate every fiber, every atom and molecule, of nature (Guardini, 145-146). This is the new heavens and new earth that we eagerly anticipate, even in our own age.
This is not just an idea that has developed in the recent decades in which Msgr. Guardini wrote and taught. The Old Testament scriptures express this reality also. Psalm 19:1, a common citation about God's glory in nature, states, "The heavens are telling the glory of God." Another example, which expands on the previous passage, is Wisdom 7:17-22: "For it is he [God] who gave me unerring knowledge of what exists.... I learned both what is secret and what is manifest, for wisdom, the fashioner of all things, taught me." God's word reminds us that all the beauty we see, including the intricate and wonderful workings of the cosmos, are only known in their fullness by the intimate revelation of the Creator. It is in the moments when we are captivated by beauty that we come to know more about Him than we ever thought possible.
Such wisdom from the Old Testament has been taken up in Catholic tradition. From the letters of St. Paul in the New Testament to the messages of popes in our own generation, the constant teaching of the Church has been that God "wished to show forth and communicate his goodness, truth and beauty" by creation. All of creation points us back to Him who is the ultimate end and our only lasting happiness (see Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 53).
So, the beauty of creation is not for its own sake. We must never forget that the "work of creation culminates in the still greater work of redemption." It is in this redeemed creation that "everything will recover its true meaning and fulfillment" (see Compendium, 65, and Romans 8:20-22). When I see a glorious sunset or waves crashing against a large, sheer cliff in the south Pacific, I begin to feel empty and fulfilled at the same time. I feel empty because I know that such a scene will fade, and I cannot capture it and cause it to remain with me. On the other hand, I feel fulfilled because I am brought into contact with the Creator of that scene, and He captures me and allows me a small taste of His eternal embrace.
Now it is clear to see why God has created and why He allows us to encounter beauty in nature or human movement and action. "There is no other reason for creation than love," God's eternal and satisfying love. At this recognition, nothing less than praise of the Creator is warranted. In every encounter with the beauty of creation, we ought to to glorify God because He has made us in relationship to such beauty. We must never forget that all of that created beauty only leads us into the reality of Uncreated Beauty. Until the time when we experience His beauty and glory in full, let us be thankful that we catch small glimpses at sunrise and sunset.
Romano Guardini is the author of a book whose final pages capture this reality as well. The Living God concludes with a reflection on the "gentle and powerful beauty [that] reigns over all." This is the reason that natural events (sunrises, sunsets, schools of fish swimming, etc.) and natural forms (mountains, canyons, coral reefs, etc.) can attract us so powerfully at many moments in this life. God's glory pokes through in tiny rays of light now, like rays of sunlight penetrating through clouds. We look forward to the "promise of things to come" (Guardini, 146).
In the same reflection, however, Guardini writes that we are not meant to limit our focus during these moments. Beauty in this life is meant to help us anticipate something far greater. At the moment of Christ's second coming, "an excess of glory" and beauty will "break forth from the whole creation." In this moment, God's incomprehensible love for all creation and creatures will penetrate every fiber, every atom and molecule, of nature (Guardini, 145-146). This is the new heavens and new earth that we eagerly anticipate, even in our own age.
This is not just an idea that has developed in the recent decades in which Msgr. Guardini wrote and taught. The Old Testament scriptures express this reality also. Psalm 19:1, a common citation about God's glory in nature, states, "The heavens are telling the glory of God." Another example, which expands on the previous passage, is Wisdom 7:17-22: "For it is he [God] who gave me unerring knowledge of what exists.... I learned both what is secret and what is manifest, for wisdom, the fashioner of all things, taught me." God's word reminds us that all the beauty we see, including the intricate and wonderful workings of the cosmos, are only known in their fullness by the intimate revelation of the Creator. It is in the moments when we are captivated by beauty that we come to know more about Him than we ever thought possible.
Such wisdom from the Old Testament has been taken up in Catholic tradition. From the letters of St. Paul in the New Testament to the messages of popes in our own generation, the constant teaching of the Church has been that God "wished to show forth and communicate his goodness, truth and beauty" by creation. All of creation points us back to Him who is the ultimate end and our only lasting happiness (see Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 53).
So, the beauty of creation is not for its own sake. We must never forget that the "work of creation culminates in the still greater work of redemption." It is in this redeemed creation that "everything will recover its true meaning and fulfillment" (see Compendium, 65, and Romans 8:20-22). When I see a glorious sunset or waves crashing against a large, sheer cliff in the south Pacific, I begin to feel empty and fulfilled at the same time. I feel empty because I know that such a scene will fade, and I cannot capture it and cause it to remain with me. On the other hand, I feel fulfilled because I am brought into contact with the Creator of that scene, and He captures me and allows me a small taste of His eternal embrace.
Now it is clear to see why God has created and why He allows us to encounter beauty in nature or human movement and action. "There is no other reason for creation than love," God's eternal and satisfying love. At this recognition, nothing less than praise of the Creator is warranted. In every encounter with the beauty of creation, we ought to to glorify God because He has made us in relationship to such beauty. We must never forget that all of that created beauty only leads us into the reality of Uncreated Beauty. Until the time when we experience His beauty and glory in full, let us be thankful that we catch small glimpses at sunrise and sunset.
