January 14, 2024
I have already mentioned that beauty can be found using all five senses, but there is another area to notice: words well said. Soul food.
As a writer, I have long loved words expressed with beauty and power. Many are found in the Bible. Listen to God’s challenge through the prophet Isaiah...
“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness...to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked to cover him...
Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, Here I am.
“If you take away from the midst of you the yoke, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as noonday.
And the Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your desire with good things, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of waters, whose waters fail not.
And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.
(Isaiah 58:6-12 RSV)
