Outside Reading- Abby Hogge

“…It should be obvious that I do not think that biblical revelation operated in isolation from God’s dealings with the rest of humanity. Rather, it is built on existing structures, especially on symbols already to be found in the natural order, and wider human appropriation of them. So the use in scripture of mountains, trees, light, water, and blood, for instance, all draw on already rich veins of human experience, as too does its use of more cultural notions such as sacrifice, temple and dance.”

This quote by David Brown made me think a lot about our “search for beauty” in life and how we often limit ourselves to see so little of this beauty. Often we limit creation to sunsets and sun rises and an occasional full moon. Instead of realizing beauty surrounds through all aspects of creation in every living thing from plants to insects to animals to humans, we often focus on the things set by our culture such as a certain body or facial type, a certain brand of clothing or a certain type of car.  This quote sparks realization that we often define beauty by what the culture around us has define it as. Therefore, it is not common to see food, or sports or dance as something beautiful, but rather something just a part of the human experience. Looking at it from a biblical viewpoint, it is through mountains, trees, light and blood that often God reveals Himself to His people and I think this is a good notion put forth by Brown that reminds us that is is through these often under-minded parts of creation that we can come to know God.