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“God looked at everything he had made, and found it very good.” (Gen 1:31)Beauty is a prophet. It points us toward God.
A flower, a field, or a sunset inspires us. These in-spire, or “breathe in”, to us something of God’s truth. The dangerous or dark inspires us as well. There is beauty in a storm, in a hunting hawk or stalking tiger. God is a wide-ranging artist, the ultimate creative mind, and His creations show us as much.

He created, too, things we don’t easily find beautiful. He made mosquitoes and fire ants and snakes. He made angels glorious as well as angels fallen. Nonetheless, everything God made is good – perhaps not morally good, as some angels have fallen and nearly all men sin – but everything is good in its being.

Picasso saw this, saying that “God is really only another artist, he made the elephant, giraffe and cat. He has no real style but keeps trying new ideas.” Now, it seems possibly blasphemous, or at least unkind, to say that God has no style; but Picasso, here, means that God has no particular artistic style, like cubism or impressionism. God is ultimately creative. He makes in all styles – in the delicate and the dangerous, in the marvelous and mundane. He makes things we may not all find beautiful. Of course the maker of molds would not fit one Himself.

Writers as Subcreators

I think many writers are embarrassed when John Paul II calls us “ingenious creators of beauty” who sense most deeply “something of the pathos with which God at the dawn of creation looked upon the work of his hands.” (Letter to Artists, 1999)

Artists, including writers, echo some of God’s creative power when they craft worlds. They subcreate. They speak a word and a new world springs into being. “(T)he human craftsman mirrors the image of God as creator,” as John Paul the Great wrote.

We writers are craftsmen, wordsmiths. We are, in a way, creators – parents creating new life. Like parents, we sometimes spoil our creations. We often overlook faults, or come down too hard on them. We belabor every little detail. We compare to others. We sometimes even deride others for not bringing up their little ones in the same way that we have. We worry what will become of them in a year or ten or twenty. We want the world to love them as we do.

As with any subcreation – new worlds, new characters, or new human beings – we must, at some point, come to trust the Creator with whom we work. We must let go. Not every person sees every creation as beautiful. To some, a work is too serious or too silly. It is too dark and dangerous, or too deep, or too shallow. We create as we were created, and that means we do not always create to another’s taste. That does not excuse immorality or indecency, but it does explain a panoply of difference. We do not always see the beauty in another’s work, but God does. We do not always see the beauty in our own work, but God does.

God sees the beauty of all creation, even when we cannot. He has plans for it, as well – perhaps very large or very small, but plans nonetheless. You may throw up your hands at times and exclaim, “God only knows who’s going to read this!” But yes. Yes, He does.

Lord, give me the grace to see Your goodness and to share it with others. Give me the prudence to know what words to use, the temperance to say no more or less than you would have me. Give me a sense of justice, especially toward my fellow writers, and the fortitude to hold to what is good.

Joe Wetterling is a catechist, blogger, and an adult educator with over fifteen years of experience. His interests include philosophy, adult learning, instructional technology, and stoytelling/teaching by analogy. Joe lives in Moorestown, NJ with his wife and son. You can find him online at joewetterling.com and at his two blogs: Ho Kai Paulos (hokaipaulos.com) and The Baptized Imagination (baptizedimagnation.com).

One Reply to “The Beauty of All Things”

  1. That someone as creative and brilliant as Blessed John Paul II finds in all of us writers and bloggers something echoing the beauty and creativity of God is really uplifting to me.

    I was a bit down and this post encouraged me to breath deep and enjoy my work. Thank you!

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