Common Grace

So, I just got back from Kauai. I know. Poor me. As it was my first visit to a tropical island of any sort, I was left completely astounded at the beauty of it. I've seen beautiful things - after all the sun does come out in Washington once a year or so - but never have I seen turquoise water. I didn't know water could naturally have so many shades of blues and greens. With or without clouds! In Washington if the sky is grey, the water is grey.  I felt like I needed a couple more eyes to appropriately and fully take in the vast awesomeness of it.

As I was walking the shoreline of the "island's most treacherous beach" (which we swam in - we saw the death tally sign on our way back) and taking in the beauty of the water and the framing cliffs, I started thinking about common grace. 'Common grace', by the way, is a term used by theologians that means the goodness of God that extends to any and everyone.  And it struck me, maybe for the first time, how completely lavish God is.

Here in our world we have some of the most astounding things.  How many natural masterpieces do we each experience in a lifetime? From sunsets to butterflies to palm tree branches in the wind to mountain ranges to lightning.  And it's all free.  Whether you're smart or stupid, beautiful or ugly, rich or poor, religious or atheist, good or evil, there it is. A message from our Creator, a gift of His astounding grace.  How sad that we are often too wrapped up in ourselves to really notice its glory or to feel the beckoning of its Artist.

I sat later in the soft sand, composed of worn down coral and sea shell, and wondered about God. And I wondered if all the beauty I saw was maybe just a postcard.  A picture and a foreshadowing of all He has in store, but like the reality that a picture represents, full of realness and dimension unspeakable.