A Beauty Glorious

I'm not ashamed to admit: I love the Twilight saga. The books, not necessarily the movies. (I haven't even seen New Moon yet.) I wrote in my last blog about how our stories reflect God's Great Story, and I think there's a lot in Stephanie Meyer's vampire romance series that echoes our relationship with God.

My dear friend Sapphira Adi has pulled out a few of these ideas in her blog. I hope you find it as enlightening as I did! http://www.elyonscircle.com/blogs/SapphiraAdi/?p=968

I’m not gonna lie: all of the ideas in my most recent blog were inspired by John Eldredge’s book Epic: The Story God is Telling. It’s a small book and a really quick read, but it’s been one of the most inspirational books I’ve ever read. I’d love to give you a copy! Leave a comment telling me your favorite book or movie, and if you want you can also tell me how you see the Great Story reflected in it. (You’ll also need to leave me your email address so I can get a hold of you.) I’ll randomly choose one of these comments to win a copy of Epic. Sound good?

Yay, our first giveaway, I’m excited! I’m actually hoping to do more giveaways in the future. I have some pretty exciting ideas, but if you have an idea of a book/movie/cd or something else that you’d like to win, leave that in your comment too, or you can email me at abeautyglorious@gmail.com. That will also give you another entry into the Epic giveaway.

I’ll announce the winner with my regular Wednesday blog in two weeks, so you have until Tuesday, March 16.

Sweet! Thanks, ladies, have an amazing day! :)

Caitlyn

Confession: I love to read. I will read anything that engages my mind and my heart…thrillers, mysteries, fantasies, romance, the thicker the better. I’m one of those geeks who doesn’t have crushes on movie stars, but rather book characters—and this was way before Twilight came out. (Ladies, High King Peter is mine. Just saying. The one in the book, not any of the movies.)

However, even for those who would rather eat live scorpions than pick up a book, the lure of story is inescapable. We live in it. Characters, setting, action, conflict. Life is a story, and we interact with the world around us in terms of story. “Hi! How are you? How was your weekend?” “Fine” is not an acceptable answer. We want to know what happened. Story is one of the main languages of the human heart, maybe even the primary one.

When the story around us gets too boring or stressful, we escape into fictional stories, or perhaps historical ones. Whether through books or movies, fiction or nonfiction, we love a good tale. We love stories that help us make sense of our own lives, that promise us there is good in the world and remind us of what it means to be human.

Think about this for a minute. What stories do we love most? What movies are we drawn to, the ones we watch over and over and never get bored?

If you’ve ever taken a literature class, you may have seen a diagram that looks something like this:



This is the basic structure of a story. The exposition (or set-up), the crisis, the rising action, the climax, the falling action, the resolution. It’s pretty typical, really. Things are good, then something terrible happens, and the hero must go on a journey or some sort of mission to fix things. There is a great battle or moment of decision, and the fate of the world hangs in the balance. Finally, the battle is won, and things settle down into a new kind of good.

Does any of this sound familiar? Could it possibly be that our fiction isn’t so fictional after all, but is actually rooted in something deeper? Let’s take a look at another, much older Story for a minute.

Once upon eternity, there were Three, in joyous, peaceful unity. Life was perfection itself. Then—treachery, and a fierce war began. Armies clashed among the stars, until the Three did something the traitor did not expect. A new battlefield was named, a little blue ball hanging in space. It was untouched by the war, perfect in simplicity, joy, and freedom. It was the ideal target for the traitor, and he attacked with a vengeance. The little people the Three so longed to treasure and protect sold their world and their souls to the traitor. Beauty was spoiled by horror, and they became slaves and prisoners of evil itself. The war raged on.

The Three made plans for an ambush, a daring mission that the traitor would be unable to stop. The Three sent themselves down to the people’s world, in the form of One, to enter the battle personally and rescue the prisoners. The people were fascinated, but afraid and angry. They did not understand. The traitor used them to kill the One, and he celebrated his victory. Little did he know that it was that very death that would break the chains he had spent millennia forging. Triumphant, the One returned to life, and declared that anyone who would come with him would be free. Many did, but most had forgotten how to be free. The victory was won, but as long as the prisoners refused to claim their freedom, still the war raged on. It rages yet today.

It will be over one day. Someday, the Three will shatter all illusions and restore the bliss that was intended from the start. In the meantime, the rescued ones celebrate their freedom and join the Three in battle, pushing back the rebellion and waiting breathlessly for that final glorious day.

This is our Story.

Do you see it now? Do your hear in that great Story some of the things you love about your own favorite tales? Adventure. Danger. A hero and a villain. Rescue. Sacrifice. Homecoming. The list goes on.

The Story of the universe is retelling itself in our stories.

The Princess Bride. The Lord of the Rings. Beauty and the Beast. The Matrix. Star Wars. Even Twilight and Harry Potter. All contain threads of this Great Story. We love the books and movies we do because somewhere in our deepest soul, they remind us of the Story we were born to live.

And of course, the Story I just told above doesn’t even begin to talk about the Great Romance that runs through it all. The One calls the people his Bride, and he loves her so passionately that he would give anything to win her love, up to and including his own life. The dream of his heart is to be united to her in perfect bliss, free to love unhindered for all eternity.

Why are we drawn to stories? Because story is the language of the soul. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that God “has set eternity in their heart.” We have an instinctive sense of this Great Story imprinted inside of us.

Keep that in mind the next time you watch your favorite movie or snuggle up with a good book. Where do you see echoes of our Story inside it? How do the stories you love illuminate the Great Story which you are now living?

Hello, my beautiful sisters! I would like to finally announce something that excites me greatly and I've been wanting to do for a long time now. Drum roll please...

We have a forum!

Yes, indeed! A Beauty Glorious now has an online message board community at www.abeautyglorious.proboards.com. While of course you're welcome to keep commenting on the blogs, the forum is the place for you to dive deeper in discussing these things with other girls from all over the world, to share ideas and experiences and learn from each other. Also, it's definitely the place to talk about random things and have fun and get to know each other. I've been part of a certain message board for almost four years now, and I can tell you that while we came together to talk about our favorite author, we have since talked about everything under the sun and have become an incredibly close knit family. :) It may be the internet, but you'd be amazed at how tight the community can be. That's what I'm hoping for this new forum.

I've set it up so that you can't see the board until you register an account. It will send a code to your email, and then you can use that code to confirm your account and get you inside to post on the board. This way, we'll have some privacy and can feel safer talking about whatever we want. To that same end, I'm asking that no guys join the forum. We love you, but this is sacred girl space. :) Please do keep commenting on the blog, though, we know you're interested too and we love to hear your thoughts!

So welcome to our next adventure! Come on in and let's get the party started! :D

Grace and peace,

Caitlyn

PS- As always, you can email abeautyglorious@gmail.com with any questions.

About a year ago, I went to a youth conference in Northern California. It was incredible and so many amazing things happened there, but one thing that really stuck with me was when one of the speakers talked about making a list. He said to make a list of one hundred dreams that you want to experience in your life, especially if they’re big dreams that sound impossible. I came home and started writing out my list, and discovered that it’s way harder than it sounds. I got up to seventy-four. These are a few of them:

• Spend a few months in England.
• Act in something magnificent and enduring.
• Go on a spontaneous trip (less than two days’ notice) involving an airplane and Jesus.
• Live a week in the past.
• See a dead person raised.
• Fly under my own power.
• Learn to Irish dance.
• Touch lives through my art.

I guess you noticed that some of these are pretty big. Fly under my own power? Really? I don’t mean a hang glider, I’m talking Peter Pan status here, ladies. I’m not going to be bitter if it doesn’t happen before I die, but I figure, if “with God all things are possible,” then I might as well put it on the list, right? Stranger things have happened.

That last one is really the most important to me on this mini-list. That’s why I write A Beauty Glorious. It’s a dream that I firmly believe God has placed inside of me, and I am so excited to see where he’s going to take it.

You know what really blows my mind, though? As crazy as some of the dreams of my heart are, God dreams much bigger. Ephesians 3:20 exclaims, “Glory belongs to God, whose power is at work in us. By this power he can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine.”

Every time I think of this verse, I think of Han Solo’s line in the original Star Wars movie: “I don’t know, I can imagine quite a bit.” Ha! As if Han or anyone could ever out-imagine GOD!! (He’s kind of infinite, and all that…)

John Eldredge put it this way: “I mean, really. We have dreamed better dreams than God can dream? We have written stories that have a better ending than God has provided? It cannot be.” (From his book Epic, which I very highly recommend and will probably blog about soon.)

God’s plans for you are far more amazing than you could ever plan on your own. I’ve discovered something that has completely revolutionized my perspective of life: Every time God takes something away, it’s so that he can give you something better. (Isaiah 60:7, 61:3) With this in mind, there’s never a need to get upset or afraid about any dream that seems to slip through your fingers. It only means that God’s got something even more amazing up his sleeve! And mark my words: it will be something you could never have imagined on your own.

My sister has a dream from God to build a well in Nigeria, to give a community clean drinking water. It's not going to be easy; there don't seem to be many organizations building wells in that part of Africa. Many people would say that a teen can't do something like that, but my sister knows that this a dream God gave her, and I believe she IS going to see it happen.

So don’t be afraid. There are no limits. Dream up a storm! But here’s the thing: don’t forget to dream with God. He gave you your passions, and he wants to use the dreams you carry in your heart. But he also wants to do things you’ve never before imagined. Adventure? Absolutely. When you’re dreaming with the original Dreamer, you never know where you’ll end up.

And keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times, because it’s going to be a wild ride! Guaranteed.

If you saw me on the street, chances are you’d see me walking around with a bounce in my step and the hint of a silly little grin on my mouth. If you watched me being by myself, you might hear a random little giggle from time to time. I know, I’m a dork, but I think I’ve figured something out. Life is both beautiful and painful, but through it all there is a reason to smile. Why would I say such a thing?

Because this life is not the point.

This is my secret: I am not of this world.

I know you’ve seen that phrase before—on T-shirts, on car windows, on keychains, on Bible covers. It’s everywhere in the Christian community these days. It’s become cliché. But, as with most clichés, it’s so common because it’s true.

I do not belong to this world! I’m just passing through. I know who I am and I know where I’m going. Earth is not my final destination. I am able to go through life with a smile on my face and a song in my soul because I know that my citizenship lies somewhere greater.

That’s what occupies my thoughts. It’s the reaching for that country that thrills me through every bone.

I may live in a house in Suburbia, California. I may wear clothes purchased at Target. I may breathe Earth’s oxygen and eat Earth’s food, but it’s all an illusion. It’s real enough for the time being, but someday I will look back and laugh at how brief and thin it was.

Paul wrote, “What we see now is like a dim image in a mirror; then we shall see face-to-face.” (1 Corinthians 13:12) That’s what I’m fully expecting it to be like. When I wake up in heaven, I expect to see a world far more vibrant and alive and real than anywhere on Earth. (Twilight fans—remember Bella’s very new experience in Breaking Dawn? Yep. I’m thinking a lot like that.)

Here’s the deal: this planet is not my home. I was created to long for something more. C. S. Lewis captured it perfectly in The Last Battle:

It was the Unicorn who summed up what everyone was feeling. He stamped his right fore-hoof on the ground and neighed and then cried:

“I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now. The reason why we loved the old Narnia is that it sometimes looked a little like this. Bree-hee-hee! Come further up, come further in!”

In this new Narnia that the characters found, the fruit was sweeter, the mountains were taller, and even the colors were brighter. It was all far more REAL than the place they had come from. All the old limits were gone. They could swim straight up thundering waterfalls, and the water wasn’t even cold.

That’s what I want. When I get to heaven, I want to dance through the clouds and swim up waterfalls and run a lap around the universe holding Jesus’ hand, screaming and laughing like maniacs all the way. I get the giggles every time I think about it.

Imagine…I’m going to sing in perfect harmony with all the angels and spend forever (and ever, and ever, and ever, and ever) hanging out with GOD. This is my deepest longing and my greatest hope.

Tee-hee. :P

Art.

Quick—what just popped into your head? Paints and canvas? Funky colors and self-expression? Sure, that’s a start, and we can also include music, writing, dancing, acting, etc. For that matter, fashion design, photography, architecture, cosmetology, filmmaking, and a thousand others are art forms as well.

Art is a notoriously tricky thing to define. In my college philosophy class, we spent some time trying. Is art anything that anyone appreciates? Is there an objective standard of what is “good” art? Does art require an intentional creator? We went in circles for a while, disagreed a lot, and I don’t remember if we ever reached a conclusion. What I actually remember more is something we talked about in another class, a class about what it means to be a Christian and an artist. I walked away from that class carrying a concept that blew my mind.

I was created in the image of a Creator. I was born to be an artist. I was created to create.

Wow.

Of course, as a theater student, I already considered myself an artist. I create characters with my voice and my body. But it still amazes me to think about how intrinsic and natural art is to the human soul.

Think about it. What do little kids love to do? They spend most of their time watching, imitating—and creating. Finger paint. Play-Doh. Make-believe. Made-up songs. We are born with the urge to create.

And it’s no wonder, really. Take a break and go read Genesis 1. Or, just check out the world around you.

Look at the evening sky! Who created the stars? Who gave them each a name?...I created the world and covered it with people; I stretched out the sky and filled it with stars.
(Isaiah 40:26, 45:12)

This entire planet is a fantasy land bursting with living art! And its Creator is our Father. We were made to take after him.

What an amazing thought! If the Holy Spirit of the original and ultimate Artist is living inside of us…what incredible things might we create? We have it in us to create the art that will inspire and change the world. After all, art is one of the most powerful tools for communication we have available to us. I believe this is because it skips over the intellect and speaks straight to the heart.

By the definition my class arrived at, if you’ve ever created anything, you are an artist. I’m not saying you have to be the next Thomas Kinkaid or American Idol. I don’t care if you flunked the only drawing class you ever took and can’t carry a tune to save your life. You were created in the image of an Artist. Creativity is in your blood. You were given the twin gifts of imagination and creativity. No other species on earth has that power.

So then. If the Holy Spirit of the original and ultimate Artist is living inside of us…what incredible things might we create? With God, the ultimate Beauty, as our inspiration, and God, the ultimate Creator, as our father and guide…by my calculations the possibilities are infinite. We have it in us to create the art that will inspire and change the world. After all, art is one of the most powerful tools for communication we have available to us. I believe this is because it skips over the intellect and speaks straight to the heart. It captures the imagination and resonates with the soul. What better way is there to give glory to God and represent Truth to the world?

And here we are back at one of my favorite topics in the world. If you know me at all, you might be able to guess how I suggest you use your divine gift of art: Worship. Write a poem. Sing your own song. Dance in your bedroom. Draw swirlies in your journal. Seriously. Just create something to give glory to God. It doesn’t have to be brilliant. Just express your heart. Make something beautiful. You were born for it.

Oh sing to Jehovah a new song; sing to Jehovah, all the earth.
(Psalm 96:1, emphasis added)