A Day of Hearing, Seeing, and Feeling

One morning, I woke up early, I went down stairs and then I listened. 

I listened to the monkeys and their loud chatter. I listened to the crickets and cicadas create harmony with one another. I listened to the tweets and the crows of an assortment of birds, largely unknown. I listened to the pitter-patter of rain as it softly hit the roof and dripped among the trees outside. I listened to every piece of stillness and chaos and it was so beautiful.  However, what I heard was not tangible to the physical ear and no, it was not a still, soft, whisper. What I heard was a deep understanding in my mind, an understanding of purpose. 

That afternoon, I sat on the ground and looked.

I looked down at these tiny ants in front of me and pondered their remarkable ways of communication and stared in awe of their ability to move things ten times the size of themselves. When I looked up, I fell in love with intricate silhouettes of the branches and green leaves against a canvas of blue sky. Then, I spent a few moments admiring the rest of my surroundings and became enchanted by the beautiful details of God’s creation. It was in the midst of this admiration I had a realization about beauty.

In the darkness of that evening, God released water from the sky.

A new friend stood before me in the rain, with her hands open wide and the biggest smile on her face. It was her joyful expression that drew me out from the cover I stood under. It was a single smile and my heart for adventure that lead me to stand in the rain. It was there as I worshiped and let the rain coat every inch of exposed skin and dot every part of dry clothing, that I felt so loved. 

In the days prior, my group and I received a message from the Holy Spirit in the form of letters, written by a friend of one of our leaders. We did not know the writer personally, yet the words on the paper were profoundly accurate. 

My letter said, “Beautiful! Beautiful! Beautiful! As you see more of my beauty, you will see more of my own beauty in yourself, because I am beautiful, I am in you, and you reflect me. You, my love, are beautiful.” 

It was this emotional letter, that ended up shaping my thoughts as I listened, looked, and felt on that day.  As I listened to the symphony of sounds that morning I understood how intentional and purposeful God was when he created me. Then, the afternoon expounded upon this idea as I observed God’s creation and realized that the same level of intricacy and beauty, could also be found in me. It was later that evening, worshiping in the rain, that I felt the love of the Holy Spirit affirm my revelations from before. 

The reason I am sharing this with you, the reader, is to remind you of how beautifully, wonderfully, and intentionally made you are. God created this beautiful world and he created you, who he finds beautiful. So, why do you insult God’s craftsmanship? Why do you judge the way others look, when they are also wonderfully made?

I challenge you, the reader, to fully enjoy every moment of life, and never take for granted the beauty that lays underneath all of the brokenness of this world. 

– Kara Wiles, Costa Rica 2019

The howler monkeys: