It was our first night in Cape Town, and we had just been told that we missed the last cable car up to the top of Table Mountain to watch the sunset from one of the new Seven Natural Wonders of the World. We were a little disappointed to say the least, but that’s when our taxi driver, Patrick, took off for Lion’s Head, another nearby peak to see if we could catch the view in time. We were speeding around the curves as we climbed higher and higher until we stopped. Traffic was backed way up so Patrick let us out while he tried to go up and turn around. We stood on the side of the road and watched the sunset as cars stood parked in the middle of the road to admire the beauty.
As the last signs of the sun were disappearing and I had finished taking pictures, I looked around to see just how many people had made it a priority that one night to drive up to watch the sunset. I can only imagine it’s like that most nights. We had to wait probably a good thirty minutes for things to clear out so we could head back down and return to our hostel. I realized then how passionately the world admires beauty. They travel the world chasing it. They spend lots of money trying to achieve it. They wait in long lines (and let’s just all admit that patience is not a virtue most people have anymore) to behold it.
Beauty is a powerful thing.
In that moment, I was struck by how universal that desire to see something beautiful truly is. People everywhere appreciate a gorgeous sunset. No one can deny the beauty in a sleeping baby. I see it this month in the eyes and the smiles of the residents when they greet me in the mornings. These are God’s masterpieces, indisputable. He created them, and no one shrugs them off.
Their beauty demands a response.
These things, properly beheld, inspire a sense of awe.
As I was meditating on this phenomenon that night, I was more impressed by the thought that God’s greatest work, His most beautiful act, is something that we don’t always approach with that same sense of wonder. God became a man and died so that we could live. That’s beautiful, and it should inspire awe.
It should cause us to stop and behold the beauty of the incarnation and the cross and the resurrection. Maybe if we stop long enough to really see how beautiful those acts of God are, then maybe others will stop to look, too. Because the world is chasing after beauty. And we have it! We have a beautiful gospel. We serve a God who works in compellingly beautiful ways.
So let’s start the line. Just stop and take in the beauty. Maybe someone will come ask what you’re looking at. And before you know it, you’ll be stuck in a traffic jam on the mountain because everyone is stopping to stare. Trust me. That’s a beautiful place to be.
