Beauty or Babel?

"Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment." - Ecclesiastes 11:9

Emerging from adolescence may well be the pinnacle of existence, as all the things you thought you had to prove begin to fade away, and you are free and fresh to pursue the wonder that is life. As intimated above, this idea may not be wholly unbiblical.

The tireless force of maturity continually refines our awareness of both self and surroundings. Beauty is truth, truth is beauty, and discovery is the regnant theme - the watchword of the brightening dawn. And the train gathers reckless speed.

This rushing wind has been breathed by God Himself; He is the headwaters of this deliciously drenching torrent of truth. "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights..." (James 1:17) The understanding opens, words falter, and the heart leaps for joy.

But for the catapult to be effective it must be aimed. It is desirable that youth be found sober, discreet, self-controlled, centered, purposed. "Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth," is more than pithy advice: it is the path of life. For there is a distinct danger that the heart may become enraptured by its own reflection, which danger is only intensified in this age of personalization and individuality, where the tendency is for man to create God in his own image.

It is not sinful for a flower to open, it is only sinful for it to congratulate itself for such talent, flattered by its own finesse. The Gift and gifts of life are tokens from God of His bottomless love, and we thrive in the delight to the extent that we glory in the source. "Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." (Isaiah 40:30-31)

That original sin still haunts us: the reaching for the self-contained knowledge of good and evil and the implicit rivalry of God. And this is the danger, namely, that our very passion for the real will prove once again to be our undoing.

Will your bricks and mortar be a temple for the living God, or a Babel of self-serving egoism?