When Beauty Brings Destruction

“The mountains are calling and I must answer…”

The mountains are calling us to their beauty and many have answered by vacationing or moving here.  The Appalachian Mountains truly are beautiful.  However, as with most beautiful things, the allure hides the reality of what it takes to focus on the beauty and ignore what lies in the shade.  I am not referring to Sasquatch!  No, it is the smaller and very real creatures which lurk in the shade.  

They are also a part of the beauty of the mountains.  The part I am still learning to appreciate.

Childhood memories of vacationing in Wisconsin always include the excitement and delight of seeing wildlife, especially the deer. There were no deer where I grew up, so my vacation was spent looking for deer… in a meadow or moving through the woods along the lake. I thought they were magnificent!

Today, living in the mountains, I am still looking for deer, but now my surveillance is more focused on avoiding them as they sprint across the road! Or spying on them when they visit my garden to eat the expensive plants I have just planted.    

The purpose of my garden is not to sustain but to enhance the beauty of the woods we call home.  I am still learning how to grow and what to grow in this stubborn soil. I have  researched what deer consider delicacies and what they might say ‘no thank you’ to. I’ve attempted to thwart their invasion of what Luke calls ‘the salad bar’ with no lasting success.  

Our neighbors, on the other hand, have a feeder on their property giving the local deer the invitation to return to this area. I have come to the conclusion this is not a salad bar.  It is a banquet hall!  The silver ribbons I hung throughout the garden, thinking they would be frightened by the fluttering flashes of “danger” turned out to be more like white flags of surrender. And so I do… surrender. I shall now return to my young self’s appreciation of the beauty the deer bring to these woods and relinquish my idea of what I thought would be beautiful in my garden.  

Like the deer, things of beauty often bring destruction. Nature proves that every day. Living next to a beautiful river can turn into a nightmare over night. The lure of the beautiful ocean waves without an understanding of the deadly riptide often leads to death. Lightning strikes caught on camera are a testament of a powerful beauty, but where that strike meets the earth is fire and destruction.   

God is the creator of beauty. We see beauty all around us in His creation.  

It is His testimony of His existence to all of mankind.  

Romans 1:19 and 20 tell us, “For God has shown it to them.  For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse…”

Many people spend their whole lives pursuing the beauty of the creation instead of pursuing the Creator.

There is an ancient African story about how to catch a monkey. Put a shiny object in the bottom of a narrow necked jar.  The monkey will put his paw into the jar and grab the shiny object. Because his paw is now in a fist, he will not be able to pull his paw out of the jar.  His desire for the object overrules his reason, and he is easily caught. He has lost his freedom.

This is useful information if you ever want to catch a monkey, but there may be some human applications in this story as well.

That shiny object can be a person, a possession, a place, or even a pursuit of our own identity.  

Beauty is good. It is a gift from God. It is in “not being able to let it go” that gets you caught in the destruction.  You lose your freedom, your perspective, and your relationship with a Holy God Who is the ultimate gift Giver. 

In I Peter 1:24 and 25 we read, “As the Scripture says, “People are like grass; their beauty is like a flower in the field.  The grass withers and the flower fades.  But the word of the Lord remains forever.  And that word is the Good News that was preached to you.”

Colossians 3:2 says, “Set your mind on things above, not on things of the earth.”

Our God is all about beauty. He is even able to make beauty from our failures.

“To all who mourn… He will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for His own glory.” Isaiah 61:3

Oh that we could let go of the shiny object and become a “great oak” for His glory!

Since my submission to the beauty of the deer, my stress level over the garden has disappeared.  I am now able to enjoy the beauty just as it is. The deer have also given me reason to give God glory and learn from His creation.  

In the last few days my girlish self has been delighted by the antics of two fawns chasing each other through our woods. Another day, the mama deer ran down our hill and stood at the edge of our driveway. She was on high alert, obviously looking for something.  To my delight, she began to “call” to her fawns and stomp her foot. They did not answer, and soon she darted off in the opposite direction.  

This morning I was relieved to observe not only the doe with her two fawns, but several others including a young buck. They were all quietly lying on the ground behind our fire pit, the young buck displaying his male aloofness by separating himself from the group by a few feet.  

I watched them for at least a half hour.  We made eye contact. I imagined that the deer knew of my resolve to accept the addition of their beauty to my garden, and my understanding that we are all creatures at peace, in a safe place giving glory to God for His gift of beauty.

“Let everything that breathes sing praises to the Lord!  Praise the Lord!”  Psalm 150:6