by George Ghattas
I have an abstract way of thinking - from the perception of seemingly unimportant situations, to the notable ones. Upon analysis of myself, I’ve deduced that my mind is visually stimulated, and inherently I am a visual learner.
If you find yourself like me, tune in - and even if you’re not, you may find a different and more eclectic way of perceiving things.
Taking a few steps back, I will list a couple of personal methods I find that help me appreciate the minute.
Firstly, I find this verse intriguing.
“He must increase, but I must decrease” - John 3:30
This verse intrigues me in a plethora of ways. Initial thoughts that pop in my mind is the notion of ultimate humility. Achieving this “ultimate humility” could be a lifelong journey, and just exerting a continuous true effort is satisfactory. Thinking of what it means to lessen myself can be quite confronting. You can think of it like an inversely proportional relationship. If I am 50%, then that leaves God to be 50%. So, one of my goals in life is to plateau to a zero, leaving God the full and complete 100%, in His full power and glory. Whenever I feel off-track, I always think of this ratio and that helps realign my prospect and my path to traverse through the day. Thinking of this numerical relationship pertaining humility, automatically allows me to start thinking of how I can zoom in to the everyday things, which can seem mundane on the surface, however with deeper understanding and contemplation, you can truly appreciate its God-given beauty and ultimately praising God.
Spring is approaching as I’m writing this, and I find myself so captivated with the cyclic nature of deciduous trees (you could ask my friends, I constantly send them pictures of plants to appreciate with me). The architecture student in me finds that every tree is a piece of art and I can draw so many parallels between trees and religious and philosophical theories. I can guarantee that every time I witness a budding bundle of leaves I am left in a complete state of awe. The importance of this is crediting this phenomenon to His power and glory. Essentially, God is the omnipotent one who gives life to everything living on this universe and just contemplating on that fact, whilst having a visual illustration right in front of you is quite an experience I would highly recommend.
I have a question for you. Have you ever seen a mesmerising landscape and just stood there admiring? I have been to beautiful places around this Earth, and if only I could vocalise my stream of consciousness during those beautiful moments I would. A common thought that occurs to me in these surreal moments, are wow! God is a true artist; many people exert all these efforts and learn all these painting techniques just to replicate what God has already made. Standing in front of serene landscapes, my physical mind seems to shut off and my spiritual mind is induced. I also urge you to find a beautiful spot where you can stand in awe, forget your stress, angst, and worries and just thank God- even if that’s your backyard! Thank God for giving us visual humans a place such as the one you are looking at.
I will leave you with this verse for a final time to instigate contemplations, drawing on your own personal life experiences!
“He must increase, but I must decrease” - John 3:30
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