Friday's Quote
The Beauty of Nature
An extract from an essay by Thomas Browne:
Of God in Nature by Thomas Browne (1605-1682)
“There is no deformity but in monstrosity; wherein, notwithstanding, there is a kind of beauty; nature so ingeniously contriving the irregular part, as they become sometimes more remarkable than the principal fabrick. To speak yet more narrowly, there was never any thing ugly or misshapen, but the chaos; wherein, notwithstanding, to speak strictly, there was no deformity, because no form; nor was it yet impregnant by the voice of God. Now nature is not at variance with art, nor art with nature; they being both the servants of his providence. Art is the perfection of nature. Were the world now as it was the sixth day, there was yet a chaos. Nature hath made one world, and art another. In brief, all things are artificial; for nature is the art of God.”
Hope
My husband played me a music video on you tube the other night, of Lady Antebellum song; “Hello World”, the video and lyrics had me in tears! Not that it takes much for me to cry but they really get the message across in this song. I thought I would include an excerpt from the song:
“Well, hello world, how you been?
Good to see you, my old friend
Sometimes I feel cold as steel
Broken like I’m never gonna to heal
I see a little light, a little grace, a little faith unfurl”
I guess that for many people this is how we lead our lives, feeling “cold as Steel”, whether it be financial circumstances, health issues, relationship problem, we all have some baggage. This is when we need to keep the hope alive, no matter how hopeless it all seems. It is trying to look beyond your circumstances and knowing that there is a plan and a purpose for your life.
To quote a verse from the bible that high lights what faith is; “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Heb 11:1. Faith is the substance of what we hope for and without hope there can be no substance to our existence. Therefore even though you do not know the outcome or understand the circumstances, if you have faith and hold on to “Hope”, you can come out the other side stronger.
“Hope is faith holding out its hand in the dark.” ~George Iles