The Beauty of Trust by Sharon Heagy

"Get it! Kill it! Stomp on it! Hit it with a hammer! I'm not coming in until you get rid of it!" These words, uttered by many a human being have ordered the demise of what are considered to be ugly, hideous and grotesque vermin and insects. Yet ask a rodentologist or entomologist about these same creatures and they will wax eloquent on the beauty and benefits of said creatures. 

Spiders seem to hold a high rank regarding striking fear into the hearts of men, with mice holding a close second. While it may seem irrational to be filled with overwhelming anxiety by something smaller than the sole of one's foot, these fears can be deep-seated to those who experience them. But maybe as writers we can help to calm the fears of children and adults and help our fellow life pilgrims by dispelling fears before they start. Maybe.

Author E.B White's classic Charlotte's Web created an unlikely relationship between a spider named Charlotte, a runt pig named Wilbur and a young girl named Fern. Charlotte herself was a spinner of words which she placed intricately into her webs. Those kind words end up saving Wilbur.'s life.  This endearing tale of friendship, loyalty, trust and sacrifice perhaps mellows our viewpoint about both pigs and spiders, though not everyone would agree. 

Disney took the classic folktale Cinderella and used the same anthropomorphic tools as mice became Cinderella's companions and helped save the day when the wicked stepsisters ruined her gown for the ball. How can one dislike mice after that?  (Already I hear the naysayers who will never believe there is any good mouse except a dead mouse. Some of them are part of my wonderful family.) But Cinderella could trust the mice to come to her aid. 

The film Ratatouille penned and directed by Brad Bird, with input from Jan Pinkauq and Jim Capobianco, tells the tall tale of a rat who has a refined palate and an ability to cook food comparable to the best chefs in Paris. Remy the rat directs the hands of Linguini, his human partner, through a series of signals as he sits beneath Linguini's chef's hat. Remy trusts Linguini to put the right ingredients into the pot and Linguini trusts the rat's directions. Even though rats are pretty intelligent beings and got a bit of a bad rap regarding the spread of the plague, they still do spread disease and I certainly would not want one in my kitchen, or anywhere near my house and definitely not under my hat!

If we can't trust fictional animals or animated furry friends, who can we trust? What about real animals? There are abundant stories of animals who save their owners. Horses hitched to a wagon who find the way home in a blizzard when the owner can't see and drops the reins letting the horses take the lead. A friend of ours was rescued twice by his dog as he fought to save his fishing camp in a forest fire last year. Twice, when he was overcome by smoke, couldn't see and was at his limit, he grabbed the tail of his yellow lab, told her to take him to the truck up on the main road and she did, saving his life. But can we trust animals all the time? Horses can freeze and dogs can be overcome by the same smoky fires as us.

One of the most beautiful pictures of trust I have ever seen comes from the picture at the top of the page. A couple of weeks ago at church this little fellow slept in his mother's arms for the whole sermon. Watching him flip and flop, changing position from time to time was an illustration of absolute trust. He had no fear and did not wake knowing his mom would not drop him, nor leave him, nor abandon him. No matter how he moved, from laying on her arm to her shoulder, to her other shoulder and back down to a prone position in his mom's loving care, he never even flinched. To me, it was a picture of how we are to trust in God. No matter how we move and change direction, going ahead, falling behind, His arms are there to guide us back to His path, to His hands, to His love, grace and mercy and we can trust Him completely without flinching.  He will never "leave us or forsake us" says the writer of Hebrews 13:5. Jesus, quoted in the same book, Hebrews 2:13 states, "I will put my trust in Him." And He did even to the cross. What an example of beautiful trust He gave us. May we follow His lead in our lives and in our writing. As He guides our words we will create pieces of beauty beyond ourselves. We just have to trust Him and let go.

Sharon Heagy writes from the wonderful town of Rockglen, Saskatchewan, where she lives with her husband, a big dog and furry cats. She writes to bring hope and humour to a world that needs both. She can be reached at sharonheagy@gmail.com 


Thanks for taking the time to visit today. God bless.

 

Reflections on Beauty by Susan Barclay

  

She walks in beauty. [Pic from Pixabay]

Reflections on Beauty

Helen Keller

Blind, deaf, mute

Intelligent and inspiring

Reminds us that

The best and most beautiful things in the world

cannot be seen or even touched—

they must be felt with the heart.

Vincent Van Gogh

Depressed, intense, tormented

Masterful and expressive

Reminds us that

Great things are done

by a series of small things

brought together—

each one quiet, but necessary.

Lord Byron

Clubfooted, moody, and pale

Sensual and enduring

Reminds us that

There is pleasure in the pathless woods,

There is rapture on the lonely shore…

and meaning in wandering without certainty.

There is beauty in words, images, ideas

shaped by our minds

into something whole—

a body of work

made from fragments of thought.

There is beauty in living, laughter, and love,

in creativity, nature, and God,

beauty in sacrifice

and in healing,

even when neither is easy.

And so beauty is not distant,

not rare or reserved—

it is present

in everything we become

when we choose to notice it.

c. Susan Barclay, June 2026

_______________________

 

For more about Susan Barclay and her writing, please visit www.susan-barclay.blogspot.com

The Beauty of Human Touch in my Writing Voice by Alan Anderson

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable,

whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is

commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything

worthy of praise, think about these things.” Philippians 4:8

The Beauty of Interactions

The prompt for this month asks, “What does creating beauty mean to you and your writing?” The posts throughout this month are examples of beauty in themselves. So much so it would be wonderful to include them in a book on writing as beauty. For now, however, I humbly offer my contribution to our InScribe blog.

While reading through Beauty: The Invisible Embrace, and loving the entire book, the following words from page 12 struck me:

"When we hear the word ‘Beauty’, we inevitably think that beauty belongs in a special elite realm where only the extraordinary dwells. Yet without realizing it, each day each one of us is visited by beauty. When you actually listen to people, it is surprising how often beauty is mentioned. A world without beauty would be unbearable. Indeed the subtle touches of beauty are what enable most people to survive."

I entitled this blog post, “The Beauty of Human Touch in my Writing Voice,” because the beauty of interactions with people fuels most of what I write. These interactions have filled my life with whatever is lovely, significant memories, experiences, kindness, love, and wisdom.

Interactions with people over decades have also given me the opportunity to help mature what John O’Donohue would call my inner landscape. One’s inner landscape is how our outer and inner worlds intertwine.

For anyone interested, here is a link to a discussion of an interviewer talking with John O’Donohue on the inner landscape. https://onbeing.org/programs/john-odonohue-the-inner-landscape-of-beauty/?ref=antoinebuteau.com

A Continued Development of My Writing Voice

Perhaps it is because I am older now, but I see a need within me to opt for a quieter and slower-paced life. The landscape of the world around me is too noisy, rushed, and busy. I need to clear my inner landscape of events in the world that distract the birth of my words.

I work hard at developing my writer’s voice. In December 2025, I wrote a brief message to honour people in my life who influenced and shaped me as a man and a writer. They are those who were and are instrumental in the development of my inner landscape, how I interact with life, etc. Please allow me to share this with you.

They were family members, friends, and acquaintances. The world shone brighter and did not seem so cold because of their presence. They gave me treasured companionship and comfort. Holding grudges was a weakness they did not share. They mentored me and taught me what matters in life; they taught me of beauty.

When we were together, I could feel their warmth and loving presence. They taught me the preciousness of the moment. Memories of these dear ones are why there are often tears in my words as I nurture my inner landscape.

I can no longer feel their touch or embrace them, but I can live for them. Oh, how I would love to have one more of their hugs. I cherish unique hand-holding memories with these dear ones; time will not erase. These loved ones still matter. They let me know how special human touch is. I will honour and cherish them for the rest of my life. The world will know of their love in the way I live, love, and write.

The beauty of human touch, whether physical or emotional, continues to allow my writer’s voice to flourish. There will come a time when my writing ends. Until then, I will endeavour to write words that hopefully offer a sense of beauty, a beauty where people will know they are not alone.

Dear readers and writers, allow your inner landscape to birth words of beauty, offering to the world whatsoever is lovely.

 

Alan lives in a small village called Deroche, British Columbia, with his wife, Terry, and their poodle, Charlie. He enjoys walking on the dike near his home, with trees all around and where he finds inspiration to write. He has occasionally written articles for FellowScript Magazine and is a regular contributor to the InScribe Christian Writers’ Fellowship blog. Alan’s website and blog are https://scarredjoy.ca. He also writes on Substack.

 

The Beauty of Words by Steph Beth Nickel

When we think of blessings, typically, we think of the positives in life. We may also think of a secular perspective on how God shows His love for us by showering us with things that make our lives easier. Thus the hashtag that was going around for a while: #amblessed

But we know from the Scriptures, and from our lives, that some of the richest blessings don't seem like blessings at first. Second Corinthians 12:10 provides a tremendous perspective for every believer. When we are weak, we are in a unique situation to experience God's strength.

So...

What does this have to do with beautiful words?

The power of words is similar to blessings.

Yes, there are words that virtually everyone would consider beautiful. From the uplifting poem for which each word was carefully chosen to the note of encouragement that brings a smile to the recipient's face. From the work of fiction that makes us laugh out loud and leaves us feeling all warm and fuzzy to the nonfiction book that ends with a practical and invigorating charge to readers that motivates lasting change.

But could there be a deeper kind of beauty?

Years ago, when asked who my favourite author was, one of the first names that came to mind was Edgar Allan Poe.

Are you surprised? Shocked? Horrified?

I answered as I did, not because I enjoy horror or even Poe's works as a whole but because of all the authors I've read, few have chosen their words so carefully that not only does the reader see a detailed mental picture of each scene but also experiences the atmosphere the author was seeking to create.

To me, that's one of the most powerful expression of the beauty of words.

As writers, we can transport readers to an entirely new world. We can touch their hearts and stir their emotions. We can take them by the hand and help them make decisions that can change the course of their lives for the better.

Sometimes our words will be like a breath of fresh air.

At other times, we will have to choose words that relay our own challenging experiences or someone else's in order to be believable and in order to point toward a future hope the reader isn't currently able to see.

And what about those words we write only for ourselves?

When my children were young, I often poured out my heart in my journal. And many times, I was working through the challenges I was facing as a young mother. If others read those word (or if I went back and read them now), would they be uplifting? Encouraging? Beautiful? Not by the commonly held definitions of those words.

So, why would I consider them beautiful?

At the time, they allowed me to deal with the struggles I was facing. My inadequacies as a mother. My desperate need for God's intervention in my life.

While I have no desire to reread my old journals, there was a power to the words that found their way onto paper. And in that power . . . a certain beauty.

So, whether we're writing for our eyes only, for our closest friend, or for the public, may we chose our words carefully, may we seek to ultimately encourage the reader, and may we create beauty that can breathe life and hope into a moment or possibly, a lifetime.

Steph Beth Nickel is the former Editor of FellowScript and the current InScribe Contest Coordinator. Steph is an editor and author and plans to relocate to Saskatchewan from Ontario to be close to family in 2027, Lord willing. (Headshot Photo Credit: Jaime Mellor Photography)

The Beauty of an "Awe Walk" by Sandi Somers

I awakened early and felt an urge to go for a pre-dawn walk that morning of June 14, 1995, to one of my favourite Calgary nature areas—Weaselhead. It was a thickly-treed area that I so enjoyed hiking every so often. The sky was clouded over and there was a possibility of rain, so I wore my raincoat.

As I began my walk, I breathed in the fresh earthy fragrance and absorbed the idyllic atmosphere of trees whose leaves had recently burst into their green June fullness.

Raindrops began to fall. Softly they landed on tree leaves—music to my ears. I pulled my jacket hood over my head and heard the gentle drops.

Just then a least flycatcher with his characteristic "che-bek" began to sing beside my pathway. He was hidden among the tree leaves and I had to carefully search to spot this tiny brown bird, smaller than even a house wren (photo and song here).

Something about that beautiful moment inspired such great awe that I couldn't express my feelings. Eventually I discovered that the Psalms would give me words for what I could not say. I especially loved Psalm 104, savoring the eloquent word choices and imagery. The beauty and grandeur of God almost took my breath away.

O Lord my God, how great you are!

You are robed with honor and majesty.

You are dressed in a robe of light….

You make springs pour water into the ravines,

So streams gush down from the mountains.

They provide water for all the animals…

The birds nest beside the streams

And sing among the branches of the trees…

My walk that morning has been an example of what Professor Virginia Sterm called an "awe walk", or a beauty excursion, walking in nature with the intention of tapping into something that brings a sense of wonder.

(NOTE: A beauty excursion can also be to other places—an art gallery of majestic paintings, a museum, a bookstore where you find a gem, a Christmas craft sale where you discover beautiful wood carvings…)

The question is: How can we capture beauty in our writing through nature “awe walks” or other beauty excursions? Writing can deepen our experience as we take photos, journal, write a poem, compose a song, or add to an article. Here are several angles:

- Engaging our senses sharpens our attention and “thickens” our writing, to use Carol Shields’ concept. Writing the scene as fully as possible makes a good story that captivates our readers’ attention and imagination.

- Including metaphors and unique verbs improves the variety and quality of our sentences and makes our writing sing.

- Marvelling on the wonder gives us an emotional boost. Psychologists say that wonder, joy, beauty, and awe bring down such things as anxiety, depression, stress, anger, and fatigue while increasing restorative effects such as vitality, vigor, and positive emotions. As we give ourselves a moment to feel joy and calm or excitement and amazement, we can attempt to write our emotional responses in these transcendent moments.

- Giving time to write of our gratitude and worship our Creator God is a necessary component. As we delight in our Lord, the beauty of nature and of our relationship with Jesus flourishes in our lives and writing. Doing so enables us to discover a spiritual meaning, a universal truth that our readers can relate to. William Blake wrote an eloquent poem on discovering the universal truth when he wrote:

To see a World in a Grain of Sand

And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,

Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand

And Eternity in an hour.

The author Harold Best advised: “Remember that God makes things beautiful from the inside out…elegant …Join up with the mind of the One in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”[i]

As we write to engage beauty, our lives can have a great impact. I’m reminded of someone who said that the testimony of a survivor of Cambodia’s Killing Fields was “something beautiful for God.”

God is developing us into a beautiful work of art and faith. A faith that fuels trust and hope. Pay attention to how you experience God’s presence and tell how beautifully He is working in your life.

Sandi Somers’ writing passion is to help readers grow their faith in Jesus, including their vision of what God wants them to be and do. She writes of her love of nature, gardening, travel, and family in several genres—devotionals, personal essays, and Biblical fiction. Sandi lives in Calgary, Alberta, the delightful city between the Rocky Mountains and the Prairies.

[i] Michael Card, (Scribbling in the Sand, Downers Grove, IL, IVP, 2002), 123-124.

Top Image by Pixabay

Beauty Beyond Sight ~ Valerie Ronald

 

How do I convey beauty to one whose eyes can no longer see? An irreversible eye disease has recently robbed my grandson of his vision. From now on his 25 years of visual data will be the only images stored in his memory. Though he is learning to experience beauty with his remaining senses, visual beauty can only be conveyed to him second-hand by the spoken word of another who sees it. 

 

 Already the rest of his senses are adapting. His brain has the remarkable ability to repurpose itself, reallocating the visual cortex to process information from hearing, touch, and smell. As saddened as I am by his loss of vision, I am also challenged to find ways to describe beauty to him that he can interpret through his other senses. His loss of vision causes me to view visual beauty from a unique perspective, searching for metaphors that capture the essence of what I see and translate it to a different physical sense. 

˗˗The sky is as piercingly blue as the clear song of a meadowlark. 

˗˗Her hair curls around her face like the softness of a summer breeze on your cheek

˗˗The swift flow of a mountain stream is as brisk as the scent of a pine forest. 

Jesus was a master of using visual metaphors to describe spiritual truths. He chose appealing illustrations from nature to convey spiritual concepts to temporal humans. He said to the Samaritan woman at the well, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water” (John 4:10 NIV). As He spoke these words, the woman might have imagined a spring of fresh, clear water bubbling up that would never run dry˗˗a beautiful picture of the everlasting spiritual life offered to her by Jesus, the Messiah.

 

As a writer who believes in Jesus Christ, my desire is to find descriptive words to convey His beauty to those who are spiritually blind. His beauty is found in His perfect character, His loving purposes, and His exact representation of His Father in heaven. The infinite facets of who He is offer me endless opportunities to describe Him, so those who cannot see Him now will hopefully open their spiritual eyes to see how beautiful He truly is.

 

In coming to terms with his new physical reality, my grandson is developing the ability to know beauty without the means of sight. Already he experiences beauty in the sound of a loved one’s voice, in the touch of a child’s hand, in the scent of rain on the breeze. I pray He will also find beauty in the love of His Saviour.

Valerie Ronald writes from an old roll top desk in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, with her tortoiseshell cat for a muse. A graduate of Langara College School of Journalism, she writes devotionals, fiction and inspirational prose. Her purpose in writing is to encourage others to grow in their spiritual walk. 

Beauty and Writing by Carol Harrison

What brings pleasure to my senses? As I pondered the prompt for this month's blog post, I scrolled through photos from the years gone by. Beauty in everyday moments filled the screen and brought wonderful memories to mind. It filled my senses as I could remember the scent of a flower, the chill of the air, the noise of rapids, and see the majesty of the rugged peaks. 

Beauty found in moments of sunrise through the trees or across a snow covered field, colouring the sky with vibrant colours as a new day began. I paused at photos of fast flowing, white water rapids tumbling through the Niagara Gorge and remembered their roar and the splash of water onto the observation deck. Other photos showed a storm laden sky with dark ominous clouds hiding the brilliance of the sun as the earth waited for drops of moisture. 

There is a delicate beauty of a blossom no matter where it blooms. I've snapped a photo of a lone, stunted sunflower brightening up the shoulder of a highway on a dreary, cloudy day. Another photo reminds me of the beauty a bouquet of flowers brightened a hospital room or on my dining table.  

The list continues as I scroll through photos and bring memories to mind. Yet I also find beauty in my favourite paintings or prints hanging on my walls, some made more special because I know the artist. There are pretty knick knacks, many with stories to go with them sitting on shelves throughout my home. They range from delicate, fragile china ornaments to the sparkling insides of a geode or the round smoothness of an old marble. 

There have been so many times I wish I could capture the beauty of everyday things with more than word pictures like a fantastic photo or accurate sketch. Yet that is not the gift God has given me. I must use words to capture the imagination, fill the senses, and evoke memories for the readers so they feel like they are transported to that time and place.  Everyday moments offer such a diverse subject matter for our writing and the opportunity to create wonderful word pictures. Each time I sit to write I need to remember to engage all the senses in order to offer the readers the most enjoyable, engaging experience they can have with the words on my pages. 

God created the beauty in the world around us for us to enjoy. Psalm 24:1 says "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof; the world and they that dwell therein." My words are a gift God has given to be used for His glory and the enjoyment of the readers. I need to continue to trust Him and learn more about the craft of writing and then practice it. 

 

Carol Harrison lives and writes from Saskatoon, SK. She loves to find the beauty in everyday things around her and then try and capture them with a photo and word pictures. 
 

A Caretaker and an Ambassador by Lorilee Guenter

After a winter that seemed like it would never end, the temperatures have soared. Yards are greening up. Fruit trees are covered in a profusion of blooms. Greenhouses display flowers in every colour you can imagine. Some flowers there await the gardeners creative touch in combining them. Others fill hanging baskets and planters of all shapes and sizes.

I have been working in my yard and garden for 25 years. It continues to change and evolve. I continue to learn. The process reminds me that a lot of time, skill and care is required to create those prepared arrangements.

I have been writing for less than 25 years, except for my journals. Like my garden, my writing continues to change and evolve.  Polishing pieces into interesting poems, stories and essays takes time, skill and care.

I continue to work to learn my craft by reading, writing and attending workshops. Like Bezalel and Oholiab in Exodus 35:30-35, others have been given the ability to teach. I benefit from them sharing their skill, wisdom and knowledge.

I participate, with God, in creating beauty in my yard with and oft critical eye. I need to pause and remind myself that it is not meant to be an ongoing to-do list. It is meant to be a place I can observe a small slice of God's amazing, varied, intricate creation. He causes the flowers to bloom in their time. He has invited me in as a caretaker of this particular piece of creation.

I participate in sharing a slice of God's story, His amazing, intricate, complex story. Sometimes in my writing I become focused on what isn't finished. Here again, I am learning to pause and reflect. My words teach me as I process the wonder of the world around me. Others inform me as I contemplate the words God called them to share.

When I put down my pen, and share my writing, I trust God will cause those words to bloom. He is in control of the time and the place they grow. I am invited in as an ambassador of His story of everlasting love, mercy and grace. 

Lorilee Guenter enjoys gardening, reading and more. During the summer, her and her husband often hit the trails at nearby parks. He carries a camera. She carries a sketchbook.

Writing that Makes My Heart Hurt by Michelle Joy Teigrob

I really appreciate this month’s invitation to consider beauty and the infusion of holiness in our writing. I’ll be honest: I have tended to aim mostly for simplicity and clarity as a writer. Part of this stems from my former job in journalism, but I think I also just naturally incline towards plainness in both my life and work.

However, I was intrigued to notice my heart straining with longing as I considered how I might weave the qualities of beauty and holiness more intentionally into my writing.

Just after learning about this month’s prompt, I happened to be reading through Job 38 and 39 for my day’s devotional. “This is what beautiful, holy writing looks like!” I murmured to myself. “Of course, it’s holy,” you may be mumbling in response, “It’s Scripture.”

Would you agree, however, that there is something extra special about the words attributed to God in those chapters?

Consider even just a couple of excerpts from God’s challenge to Job:

- Have you visited the treasuries of the snow? (38:22, NLT)
- Where is the home of the east wind? (38:24b, NLT)
- Can you hold back the movements of the stars? (38:31, NLT)
- Who can tilt the water jars of heaven…? (38:37b, NLT)
- Is it at your command that the eagle rises to the heights to make its nest? It lives on the cliffs, making its home on a distant, rocky crag. (39:27)

As I read these chapters, my heart expands with longing. It is rather like homesickness, though a homesickness for something I’ve never experienced, a place I’ve never visited.

Perhaps this is what beautiful, holy writing does – it makes our hearts hurt for something more, something other, something beyond what we can pull up on our screens, pay for with a card, or otherwise instantly consume.

As I ponder all this, I feel quite inadequate to ever be capable of writing in such a way. But maybe that’s okay. Maybe the first step isn’t to go out and try my hand at it. Maybe it’s fine to simply to seek out such writing and immerse myself in it. If anyone has suggestions for books and articles that you would say exude the qualities of beauty and holiness, I would love to hear.

Blessings.


Michelle Joy Teigrob is an author, college instructor, mom of three, and wife of one. She grew up as a missionary kid in Belize, Central America, the youngest of 10 children. In addition to her twin’s death, she has since lived through the loss of two other sisters. Michelle's new book, Joyfully Star-Mapping through Life's Dung Piles, shares about her journey through her wrenching sadness. Visit www.michellejoybooks.ca to learn more.

Invisible Beauty. Tangible Beauty. Heavenly Beauty. By Peggianne Wright

"The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship." (Psalm 18:1 NLT)

I believe beauty is a choice we make. But also an instinct; a subconscious reaction and shift of emotion to an external circumstance. To experience beauty is an act of faith.

Recently, as I was walking home from our community mailbox late one afternoon, I witnessed a "falling star". The split second experience made me want to tell everyone. I couldn't wait to get home to tell my husband what I'd witnessed. And yet, in this brief but beautifully mesmerizing phenomenon, I felt a warm stirring in my chest, a highly personal and private moment where I heard my own small inner voice saying, "That was God!"

The meteor I witnessed was likely hundreds of kilometers away and the object itself likely only a few centimeters in diameter. Massive yet minute. Global yet intimate. God's beauty is inexplicable and inspiring.

"O LORD, how manifold are thy works! In wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches." (Psalm 104:24 KJV)

And just as God orchestrates a spectacular act so small and yet so enormous as to remind us that He alone is the Creator of all (Genesis 1), in that very moment it felt like His personal message was displayed for me alone and yet for the entire world simultaneously.

As a Christian writer, I bear the enormous responsibility of speaking to my audience in words that point them to our Lord in a personal way and yet in kinship as brothers and sisters of Christ. At the same time, my deep faith reminds me that the burden is not entirely my own but is borne through the guidance and collaboration of the Heavenly Father.

To a writer, words are the tools of creation. God has gifted and equipped us with the ability to inspire beauty in every keystroke. In the dark moments of a writer's life, beauty will be born through the story that leads the reader towards light and healing. Through experiences of joy and happiness, beauty is magnified and shared when a writer inspires the reader to smile and feel uplifted. Beauty is private yet public as each experience comes first from deep within a writer's heart, touched by the Holy Spirit, and then amplified to the world at large.

Beauty unfolds for the writer when a reader is moved to both share and yet personally savour our words—God's words—of meaningful inspiration and nurturing. Beauty is experienced when our messages stir a reader's sense of intimacy yet communal connection to God and His Word.

A "falling star", or meteor, is basically a piece of rock that has been flying through space for perhaps billions of years, and vapourizes with a brilliant flash upon entering earth's atmosphere. From the day of Genesis 1:1, that piece of rock was traversing throughout the galaxy waiting for its moment to blaze one dazzling moment of beauty into the sky over my tiny place on this gargantuan planet. Every moment in time is on God's schedule, unfolding at His command. The beauty within our written messages is also being formed within God's plan and being read and appreciated, reflected on and embraced at just the precise right moment for someone in our audience; His perfect timing.

Whether invisible, such as a lilac-scented spring breeze, tangible, such as a newborn fawn, or heavenly, as a miracle fulfilled, beauty is a gift that inspires our writing. When we draw from every form of God's beauty, cobble it into a collection of thoughts and reflections, and share it with others, a beautiful gift is both given and received.

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” (Revelation 4:11 ESV)

Peggianne Wright is a published author and is the founder of the pet parent ministry Paws To Pray, blending her passion for the Lord and all-things-K9 to form this unique, faith-based community. Peggianne is an ardent Bible study student, devoted dog mom, wife of 44 years, and lover of music. Her blogs Spiritual Scribbles and Fur-Kid Fanatics can be found on her website www.PawsToPray.ca and you can follow her on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/PawsToPray/ and on IG @Sister_In_Prayer.

 

Even Ugly Can Become Beautiful by Bob Jones

  

“The sweetest thing in all my life has been the

longing to find the place where all the

beauty came from.” C. S. Lewis

 

“God makes everything beautiful in its own time.”

(Ecclesiastes 3:11)

“What could be more beautiful than people

becoming what God intended them to be and

having some small part as a writer in

their transformation.” NJ Lindquist

You and I may disagree on what is beautiful, but we can agree there is beauty all around us. We all enjoy something pleasing to the eye. Beauty can move and convert your heart to new thought, new faith, and new horizons.

You can find beauty in writing about raising a family, making a marriage work, advancing the causes of justice, and in contexts that range from the mundane to the mysterious. Perhaps the most intriguing beauty may rise, as NJ Lindquist asserts, from some small part you play as a writer in people’s transformation.

Poetry and prose possess a beautiful quality. And even though we can’t always physically see it we know it when we feel it.

And for writers, or any creative for that matter, even ugly can become beautiful.

Start Ugly

As Jason Dauphinee points out in, 10 Uncomfortable Truths For People Who Lead With Heart,

“Never brainstorm sitting still. Start ugly. Write the bad version. Sketch the crooked line. Motion tells your nervous system you’re safe enough to wander— and that’s where the real work begins.”

Writing the "bad version" has been a fruitful writing practise for me. As well, starting with the ugly, the suffering and hardships in life, has been a way to discover beauty.

 

In Home Behind The Sun, authors Timothy Willard and Jason Locy offer a spiritually rich perspective on beauty:

“It’s easy to focus on the brokenness and miss the beauty – to get hung up on the ‘what-if’ of a situation. No matter how dark our world, no matter how many shadows cast their despair on us, beauty remains. No matter how much pain and suffering rise to conquer us, God overwhelms them, causing good to come from even the blackest circumstances.”

Take away all the colours of the rainbow and you won’t get darkness; you get pure and radiant white. No matter how hard you try to black it out, light seeps through the cracks.

Willard and Locy observe that what we see as beautiful points to something else - the thing behind “the thing." It’s not really "the thing" we desire at all. We see beauty and we long for God.

5 Observations of Beauty

1. Our souls were made to run on the practice of worship, law-keeping, truthfulness, honesty, discipline, self-control, and service to God and others, which is beauty.

2. When we live contrary to our designed purpose, we dry up and lose the capacity for beauty.

3. Beauty is in the brilliance of the everyday - in innocence, forgiveness, physicality, deformity, art, music, mathematics, relationships and more.

4. Beauty is that surprising clarity that arrests and liberates our attention, evoking awe and wonder and opening us to the eternal.

5. God is beauty and beauty is love.

 

Which observation stood out to you?

Where do you observe beauty? Please comment at the bottom of this post.

Thank you.

Longing for Beauty by Lorrie Orr

 

June 2026: Writing as beauty. In his book Beauty: The Invisible Embrace, John O'Donahue writes "to participate in beauty is to come into the presence of the Holy." What does creating beauty mean to you and your writing? How have you sensed God's Holy Spirit filling you as he did Bezalel and Oholiab in Exodus 35:30-35?

Beauty is God's invitation to delight in him.

Wonder and awe whisper to us that there is

something beyond, something more.

Steve DeWitt, (Eyes Wide Open)

It's Sunday evening, May 31. Sunlight streams through the window onto the vase of peonies on the dining room table. How beautiful it is. I fill my eyes with the extravagantly ruffled pink and white blossoms while my mind ponders the question of beauty, and the fast-approaching deadline for this post. I had thought this would be an easy post to write, but instead, I've found the topic so vast that it's hard to pull something coherent together.

I have always been appreciative of beautiful things in the world, but it is only in the past few years that I've come to realize that embracing beauty is a personal core value - something that is important to me and that acts as a guiding principle in my life.

When I attended a concert in La Sainte Chapelle in Paris years ago, I marveled at the exquisite beauty of the chapel expressed through architecture, glass, stone, and paint. The music that soared upwards to the curving arches and filled every nook and cranny of the space was equally beautiful. Creative expression is a reminder to me of one way that humans are created in the image of God.

 

The books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located

will betray us if we trust to them; it was not in them, it only came

through them, and what came through them was longing...

For they are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower

we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard,

news from a country we have not yet visited.

C. S. Lewis (The Weight of Glory)

This ache of beauty, this longing I feel, reminds me that I am a spiritual being with a desire for something beyond myself, for that which is greater, for God himself. The Psalmist longs to "gaze upon the beauty of the Lord" throughout his life. The beauty of this world is a reflection of ultimate beauty, of God himself. More than an aesthetic quality, beauty has the most impact on me when I recognize God's presence in the things I experience.

In L. M. Montgomery's The Blue Castle, Barney says "There are so many kinds of loveliness." Beauty comes in myriad forms and I am glad that the Apostle Paul encourages us to think about lovely things. Beauty is multi-sensory, not just the things we see or hear. Human interactions such as watching a mother with her young baby, or cars pulling to the side of the road to let an ambulance by, or a conversation with a grandchild - all of these things, and so much more, are experiences of beauty.

Beauty does not erase the brokenness of this world, but something in me was created to absorb beauty and to recognize its divine source. As a writer, I long for my words to point to the beautiful grace and goodness of God. The goal of beautiful writing is to make the reader feel some emotion. Even when my writing is not explicitly spiritual, when someone reads my words and discovers a longing they cannot perhaps explain, that is beauty.

Lorrie Orr writes from Vancouver Island.

Her first book, Life is Short but Wide, a memoir of 21 years

in Ecuador, was recently published.

More of her writing can be found at 

Substack

her slice of life blog