Broken Beauty

     Imagine a soap dispenser made of yellow glass with a diamond pattern.Its pear-shaped frame is trimmed in brown.This dispenser not only did its function; it was beautiful until the day it was broken. When it was fixed, there was a noticeable crack. I like it better that way for some reason. My sister thought I was crazy.

      Later I wandered if I was weird to like it better that way. God's answer to that was no. Then He asked if I thought The Cross was weird. I told Him no, I thought The Cross was beautiful beyond compare.

      "But My Son was broken,"God said to me.

      "But He was broken in love," I argued back.

      "Moriah,it's good to see the beauty others miss,"God told me gently.

      Beauty, an interesting topic. But broken beauty is an even more interesting topic. The ultimate example is The Cross.

       Jesus was broken. His physical body was beaten, whipped, and humiliated. His soul was turmoil. Then, to top it off, they push thorns onto His head. That whipping? The soldiers were probably surprised to see Him moving.Why? Because most didn't come out able to breathe.Next they took crude nails and hammered them into His hands and feet. He was left hanging (literally), waiting for His lungs to collapse. The entertainment was watching men gamble for His clothing.

       It was a gruesome,beautiful sight. There was blood all over Jesus,but right then He was most beautiful.Jesus broken but beauty.

       All His physical pain was nothing compared to what was to come.'And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying,"Eli,Eli,lema sabachthani?" that is "My God,My God,why have you forsaken me?" (Matt.27:46,ESV)

       Since before the beginning of time,Jesus had always been with God the Father.Then,suddenly, their fellowship was broken.

        When I can't connect with God it's hard; it hurts my soul.Think how much harder it was for Jesus who had never been separated for a second. To Him,it was the worst pain ever,far worse than His physical pain.Not only was Jesus' body broken,His heart was broken.Yet it was  beautiful.His brokenness was beautiful.

          Yes, there is broken beauty.To me, it's the most beautiful kind of beauty.