Beauty For Ashes-- In Support of Those of Us Rebuilding

Cologne Cathedral

I came upon it stretched against the starlight,
a black lace
of stone. What need to enter and kneel down?
It said my prayers for me,

lifted in a sculptured moment of imploring
God in granite,
rock knees rooted in depths where all men
ferment their dreams in secret.

Teach marble prayers to us who know no longer
what to pray,
like this dumb worship’s lovely gesture carved
from midnight’s sweated dews.

 

"Beauty For Ashes".....   When I say that phrase, I think of standing in front of a sanctuary in France, left untouched after it was bombed during WW II. The front facade, still awe-inspiring, stood alone, stretching 50 feet into the sky. The massive entrance led only to the rubble of the interior, now overgrown with greenery. 

Each cathedral I visited during those weeks, filled me with reverence. The stained glass windows, the organ, the statues, the architecture... all symbolized giving the very best we have in us to God. And yet most of those cathedrals had been destroyed; left in rubble and ashes after the war. 

Each one had to be lovingly rebuilt. They were more beautiful to me, knowing that there had been a conscious choice to raise them up from the ashes; a sacrifice that required years of dedication.

 

"Beauty For Ashes" ... Recently, I have had time to reflect on the events and questions that at times reduce us, our reality, even our faith, to ashes. There is nothing... NOTHING  more painful than those internal struggles. The process of healing can't be rushed. Answers cannot just be given to us. We must rebuild on our own, with only God as our guide. Hopefully we have the love and support of those around us as we struggle.

And yet, once we rebuild, we are truly strong in the weak places. Something changes. We no longer see God as a "cosmic butler" whose power exists just to make our desires happen. We learn to yield to him, to his wisdom; we sacrifice our Isaac on the altar.

And we are never the same.

We realize He has power to send the ram, to raise the dead, to restore all that we have lost or fear losing.

"Beauty For Ashes" ....In Luke 4:18, Jesus quotes part of a passage from Isaiah that describes the heart of his ministry. The Isaiah passage reads: “The Spirit of the Lord … hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; … to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, … to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion … beauty for ashes.” (Isaiah 61:1,3)

The Savior’s atonement is thus portrayed as the healing power not only for sin, but also for carelessness, inadequacy, and all mortal bitterness. The Atonement is not just for sinners. It is for all healing.

I wish there were a less harrowing way that this Yielding could be accomplished. 

It must be that we require a complete renovation; the old must be destroyed to make way for the new.

 C. S. Lewis described it like this:

“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”   

God is literally making His children into temples.

(Nauvoo Temple)

There is unimaginable peace, when we seek guidance within the inner temple of our own hearts. There is also strength and solace to be found in an actual House of the Lord. There are going to be times in the future where nothing will comfort us but communing with God there. We have been promised that even just visiting the grounds can provide that help.

"Wherefore, stand ye in holy places, and be not moved" (D&C 87:8). 

I want to remember where to find Him, and all Answers.

The promise is that, with His help, we receive Beauty For Ashes....

That we are stronger,     more beautiful,       once  rebuilt.