There are very few moments in life which take my breath away.
I don’t mean the cliché kind you find mentioned in greeting cards or Facebook bumper-stickers. But the moments where unsurpassed beauty unexpectedly surprises you and all you can do is inhale a breath of complete awe.
Those moments…are few.
My index, middle, and ring finger can count even rarer moments. These are moments which take my breath away every…single…time. One is a girl who loves someone else. The second is a green reflective road sign which shouts to drivers “1 mile to exit 92.” And the third is found in realizing love. The reason these moments are so few is because they are found in the midst of excessively repeated ordinary moments.
For example, I find the world to contain a massive quantity of unattractive females. I can’t go anywhere without seeing unattractive women, they’re everywhere. And then Bam! In the midst of all this common ugliness appears the most beautiful girl I’ve ever laid eyes on…and all I can do is inhale in complete awe. I might hang out with her for a few hours, and then its over. I’m back to seeing hundreds of unattractive women for days on end until Bam! There she is again…a rainbow in the middle of an endless sky of grey.
I guess beauty has always fascinated me. Especially the saying “beauty is in the eye of its beholder…” I think it’s true. I mean that’s why your best friend can tell you about their ‘totally’ hot date and when you see a picture think to yourself, “ughh.” It’s why your waiter or waitress will recommend the clam-chowder soup saying, “it is my absolute favorite and the only thing I recommend!” but you end up politely taking it home to your trashcan.
I realize that plays a role too – opinion, taste etc… But it’s not just my perspective that “causes” my breath to be taken away. It’s much more how repetitive the mundane is in our lives. We get used to it and submerse ourselves into it – our jobs, our schools, the same pizza we like to eat, the clothes we wear….it’s the rhythm of our life. And there’s nothing wrong with this. I think the mundane is actually very beautiful and it’s what we should cherish…for it is our lives. But O’ how I thank God for unexpected beauty. It helps me keep on living. And it reminds me how beautiful my life really is…even if there is a lot of repetition.
This is why the mile before 92 always surprises to me. I’ve only seen the sight for less than a minute my whole life and when I do get to see it, it’s only for 3 seconds at most. But do you know what it’s like to drive 230 miles only seeing the highway, cars, trees, semis, grass, more trees, gravel, exit signs, and random houses? It’s like spending 4 hours in a car only seeing highway, cars, trees, semis, grass, more trees, gravel, exit signs, and random houses. Mundane repetition. Then 1 mile before exit 92 in Wisconsin on 90/94 going east, the evergreens on the right side of the road stop…only for about 100 feet. And when you look through the break in those trees you see off in the distance the most beautiful lake sparkling in the sunlight. After hours of the same sights, its refreshing and breathtaking every...single...time.
At the risk of sounding too spiritual the same is true of me and love, God’s love that is. Too often Jesus, salvation, and that God loves me is simply knowledge. And they’re stories and truths I’ve heard over and over and over again in my life. But sometimes, sometimes I realize that God really does love me (that’s frickin general, I know) but I realize that He loves me like one of your best friends loves you. How they care about what happens in your life, He does too. When they are sympathetic with you when life goes in the crapper, He understands like they do. I guess its also realizing that He loves like a person.
And when this happens, I don’t know what to do.
It always completely surprises me. It blows me away and leaves me in awe.
I hope this happens to you too.
David
