human beauty

every time God shows me another layer to His love, i begin to wonder how much deeper His love really is for His people and whether i could ever understand it completely. i just came back from a camping trip. the campers were a most interesting mix of believers and non-believers, all from different parts of the world with different experiences and different personalities.

i confess, i never thought we could see past our differences in a deep way, but i saw that there was something at work that bound us together, and that something...I was to later discover, was the love of Christ. one taste of it by any one person, and it spreads to all others like a contagious disease.

a taste of "being loved," and i mean the real, deep kind...seems to bring out the beauty that resides within each person. there is beauty within each person, we were all made in the image of God. and when we feel loved, our beauty shines. a calloused person's eyes begin to soften. and friends and strangers become family.

i think i am only now beginning to understand why Christ died for us, and the purpose behind this earthly life....