Christian thought

The other morning I was struck by an image of shimmering beauty on our kitchen ceiling. I had seen it before on ugly concrete walls.

It was caused by sunlight reflecting off the rippled surface of a puddle as the wind blew over it. Something quite drab and functional was transformed by a combination of light, wind and water.

These three things are all symbols of God. God is light: he banishes the darkness from our lives. The wind symbolises freedom: just as the wind cannot be controlled, so the Holy Spirit liberates our souls and minds. Water refreshes and cleanses and quenches thirst, and Jesus spoke of the Spirit as a stream of living water welling up in our hearts.

While we may manufacture things which are drab and functional, God does not. Beauty is part of God’s creation and he has given us the capacity to delight in it.

This Pentecost he offers to brighten our lives with a little bit of his glory as we welcome the Holy Spirit into our hearts.

TIM CARTER Brighton Road Baptist Church, Horsham