44 - North Shore News — Friday, December 1, 2000 as SPIRITUALLY SPEAKING = voked in the presence | Rob Des Cotes * Contributing Writer IT’S the mest incredible sunset ¢ have ever seen and I have only one picture left in my roli of film. » Pset up the camera and wait for the perfect moment fo capture this increasingly spectacu- Jar sight. As the minutes unfold, the clouds move into formation against the setting sun, “bringing out a glorious contrast of erange sky -and the heightened purple of the clouds, Iam hesitant to take the picture, hoping it might’ get even better if 7 wait another moment. And. it does! A perfect composition that everyone would agree is the consummate sunset shot. : Burt, greedy.as Tam, I wait yet another few : seconds. Oh no! A cloud begins to move over the sun reducing its light only fractionally, but - enough to alter every colour relationship in the sky. The peak moment has passed! And something in me knows it. My heart sinks because of whar I know has been forever lost. here are more pressing issues in life, ut this ‘experience reveals something of how we are afl fandamentalty related to the phengmenon of beauty, Whar is it within us that “knows” beauty-and can discern the absence, oF lessening, of it Why do we with such predictable unanimity agree that Banff is spectacular, that a bed of roses is prize-wor- thy, chat not every sunset is a “102” Beauty surrounds us. When we look at a crystal or a leaf, we are captivated by the patterns we sce. At every point in the universe, such wonders can be appreciated. And we find beauty not only in creation but also in actions, in person- alities, in relationships. Our own fives, when truly ordered or spontaneously expressed, can ‘also reflect beauty. Maybe there is a key to our understanding its origin in such common phrases as “reflecting beauty.” Nihilists hold that beauty is a sham — that beauty in nature is unrelated, even indifferent to human beings. Nietszche was right when he observed that you can drown under a sunny sky while birds are singing overhead. But was he also right to conclude that beauty is a hoax, a cruel deception, that there is - ‘nothing behind it? Anyone who has ever seri- A) 201 Ess! 23rd Street, Marth Vaacowver G3] phone: (904)984-6422 © email: lnfo@asoc.bei0 Come pin for a Seat Fun & free “No ties-no ) grouches yice cream for kids - HILLSIDE BAPTIST CHURCH ‘| 870 Lynn Valley Road, North Van 10:30am - + Sunday Moming Worship Nursery & Children’s Programs to age 12 Paso ‘Team: John Hardy, John Cuddefurd _.. Ken Best and Kim Pierrot 985-1122. ously considered the topic of beauty inevitably asks the question, “Does it point to some- thing beyond itself that is worth pursuing?” Beauty is often associated with truth, goodness and love. They all seem related. In some ways, each can be the doorway into the others. It is hard to separate them. Wher: the attempt to produce something beautiful is separated from truth, the result is sentimental- ity. Truth, like beauty, always seems strangely familiar like something we've heard or seen before. The poet John Keats spoke of this type of familiarity when he wrote, “I think poetry should ideally strike the reader as a wording that comes from his own highest - thoughts and should appear almost as a remembrance.” Beauty feels like a remem- brance, a home, and maybe that’s why it attracts us as it does. We have all experienced | - the longing evoked by the presence of beauty. Many people understand this yearning as a longing for relationship with God. It is easy to believe that beauty both beck- ons us to itself and points beyond itself to something else. In the words of CS. Lewis, Chureh, 160 E 29th Se, .C. Phe: Pastoral Sta B Owen Scott, Glen Ryland, Marcel Kurtz, Mel ‘Valley Church ie made up of ordinary of beauty “We do not merely see beauty, we want some- thing else that can hardly be put into words -. — to be united with the beauty we see, to.” pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it. We are sume moned to pass through this beauty, beyond her, into that splendour which she ‘itfully reflects.” Beauty tells us that what we have in “ordi-: nary life” is not enough. We want more, and’. we are given hope to believe that more is pos- sible. Beauty inspires such hope because of what it implies about things beyond itself. What longing does beauty produce in you? How does it attract you? Does it'seem to res- onate with something strangely familiar within you? The next time you experience beauty,’ remember to say thanks, and then take the time to ask yourself what i it has to do with : truth, goodness and a sense of hom life. — Rob Des Cotes is one of the pastors at Capilano: Christia Community. He is also Aircctor of: the ManiFest Arts s Group. 10:00 a.m: Family Worship « Meeting at 3590 Mt. Highway - Pastor Harder - 986-7400 whose lives have been touched bye the person ot eaus Gh : 3201 Mounzain Highway je aH 10:30AM. - 2” WORSHIP SERVICE . Minister Rev. Sharon Copeman =: Youth Group 7pm Sundays Young Adult Worship 3rd Sunday Spm Sunday School = Ee Care, 987-2114 “TU Phis ‘Saturday : Deccaiber 2nd ‘KidzChurch/Advent E y Regular Sunday Services. 8:00' & 10: ‘Children’s program at.t0:00 "Sunday, ‘Dec. 10-—Carol Service— day, Dec. 17—Blue Chris .. For further information please call 990-7548 ~ Family Celebration 10:00am & 4 Opni Evening i in Bethlehem ,