"Pleasing to the eye..."

And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground – trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. Genesis 2:9a, emphasis added

 One doesn’t have to be a Christian, or acknowledge that God made everything, to affirm the astonishing phrase I’ve highlighted in this verse from the first book of the Bible. Pleasure stirred by merely looking at trees and countless other created things is a universal human experience. Creation is a pleasure-provoking visual smorgasbord from stars to starfish to star fruit.

 What flabbergasts me is that The Master Artisan valued and therefore built aesthetic pleasure into what He created. He’s not some utilitarian god who created food-producing trees that fill our stomach with nutrients without filling our eyes with delight. Nope. This Artisan desired total human fullness including the joyful fullness that comes from looking at what He created.

 Wow.

 This inspires me to be like this Artisan by also creating art that is “pleasing to the eye.” In fact, it seems to me that I’m being most human when I do this, for this same Artisan created us humans in His image (see Genesis 1:26-27). Among other things, this means that all humans, myself included, are wired to reflect His inclination and ability to include aesthetic pleasure in what we create. These things are at the very heart of what it means to be human!

 Perhaps this is why I experience a mysterious and wonderful inner smile when I see others delight in my art. Perhaps my smile reflects The Artisan’s heart as He sees us delight in what He’s created to be “pleasing to the eye” - sunsets, rainbow trout, majestic oaks, honu, cerulean seas, rainbows, mountains blanketed with countless eye-pleasing trees, and so much more.

Thoughts?