This beautiful mystery

Art is difficult to label; it’s difficult to pin down the exact meaning of a piece into a nice, tidy, three sentence description. It seems indefinable. It’s a mystery. We know that, whatever it is, it is a beautiful, awe-inspiring, convicting work; but a precise definition eludes us. What is it about that work that convicts you so? Why do you find it so beautiful? Why is it so inspiring?

Writer Randy Smith says, “Because of the awe-inspiring relationship between God and man, the symbolic essence of creation, the image-bearing nature of human beings, and the limitless riches of the gospel, artists can rest assured that they dig into a world and experience that is saturated with meaning—they do not chase phantom rabbits of beauty and truth” (The Wonder of It all). Read that again; there’s a lot packed in there.

Another way to look at it is this: because of…
1. Our relationship with God
2. The essence of creation
3. The fact that we bear God’s image
4. The gospel
...we live in a world full of meaning.

Our God is a God of mystery. It is no secret that we, in our finite human-ness, do not understand all of the complexities of our triune God. Through our art-making, we can portray an aspect of the mystery and the beauty of God that cannot be explained in a bullet-ed list. We can hand our audiences a way to understand something about themselves; we can give them respite from the cut-and-dried reality of the world. Through art, we can offer people another perspective as they gaze upon and seek to understand the great Mystery.

Today's the day

"There will come a day that you can no longer do this. Today is not that day."

Yesterday, my housemate and I ran 8 miles. Was it fast? No. Was it easy? Of course not. Did we have fun? Well....it was nice to spend some time together, I suppose, though I can think of more pleasant ways to bond.

If that's the case, why do I run?

I've thought about this a lot over my last couple of years of running, and I've come up with several reason. In reality, the reasons change depending on the season of life I'm in.

Running has been...my stress relief...my challenge...my therapy.

Running has gotten me through...busy times...down times...happy times...heartbreak...stress.

So, why do I run? A bunch of reasons, I guess. It's a challenge; it's a way that I push myself to the limit. But ultimately, I run because I love it. I run because it's good for my body and it's good for my soul. I run because I know that I won't always be able to. I run because I can.