Last night, my daughter and I went to Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker". I wasn't sure how her limited attention span would handle two hours of ballet and NO TALKING. But I needn't have worried. She loved it, and was in rapt attention the whole time.
"Why aren't they talking?" she whispered at the start of the opening act. "There's no talking. They're telling the whole story with their dance. See? You know what's going on because they're dancing!" And she did. Understood the whole story through costumes and movement and facial expression. As she cuddled up next to me, and oohed and aaahed, I was happy.
The set design was fabulous. The dancing was fabulous. The costumes were lush and fabulous. The music was beautiful. And the thought crossed my mind. "LOOK WHAT HUMANS ARE CAPABLE OF!!!" Look at what beauty can be created when the best and brightest of ourselves is put to such tasks. I very nearly teared up several times, swept away by the beauty of it all.
THIS is the image of God. All that is love, and good, and beauty. THIS is what draws us towards our Perfection. Why we spend so much time and effort on the ugly parts of ourselves, why Hollywood glorifies the ugly parts of ourselves, why the world wallows in depravity, I don't understand. We shouldn't ignore our weaknesses, but we shouldn't glorify them either. We should strive towards the best of ourselves. That part which truly IS the image and likeness of God.
Beauty.
There is God in beauty.
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