Life Is Beautiful

Life is Beautiful. How often do we see that phrase? There are movies, songs, wall decorations, and probably much much more that bear these three words. Seeing it around me so much makes me want to dismiss it as a mere platitude. But I can’t. Because, truth be told- it’s not. Stop and think about it for just a moment- let the meaning of those three words really sink in. Life. Alive, breathing, vibrant. Is. Current, not was, not will be, but right now. Beautiful. Maybe something that words can’t describe, something that’s breathtaking, something special that makes our hearts soar.

One of my favorite songs is titled “Life is Beautiful” and it’s by The Afters (Ironically, I’m listening to it on repeat right now and it’s my most-played song in recent memory.) I would have thought that by now I would have tired of this song. Somehow, I haven’t. Listen to one of the stanzas:

Living and dying
Laughing or crying
If we have the whole world or have nothing
I know there are long nights
But we'll make it
With every sunrise comes a new light
And all of the things
That make us feel like we have it all

It’s not to say that life isn’t hard. Beauty isn’t found only in the easy things in life. But we have hope- that which gets us through the hard parts, urging us onward. We have the promise of love. The love of those around us, and still if everyone deserts, the love of a God who calls us His children. We are precious in His sight, and that knowledge of His love makes our hearts soar higher than we could dream.

So what makes life beautiful? I think that it’s only beautiful because God has made it beautiful for us. He gives us His love. He gives us His grace to get through the day. He gives us hope for tomorrow and the day after that- and then beyond all the way into infinity. He opens our eyes to see those little details (like sunrises, birds’ nests with baby birds chirping, bunnies calmly munching clover a few feet away) to remind us that there’s more to life than just the harsh reality we sometimes feel envelops us. There’s so much beauty in everything around us.

Isn’t it interesting though, that what we focus on the most when we say “Life is Beautiful” isn’t really cool scenes from nature which we all acknowledge to be beautiful? We focus on friendships, family, relationships. Things we do with people, for people, just enjoying their company. And I think that’s significant. We emphasize the beauty of that because it reflects the reason that we find life to be beautiful. We are social beings and we depend on each other for relationships because we were created that way. We were created with the potential for such great relationships- with each other, but especially with God. And when we see just a little glimpse of that which can be- and that which Christians believe is and is more fully yet to be- that’s when we say life is beautiful.

Life IS beautiful. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s only that way because God makes it something worth calling beautiful. Something worth cherishing and something worth fighting for. So let’s stop merely going along with all that life brings. Let’s engage and really live it- the way we were created to live.