Day 13 - Beauty In His Name

“That which draws us to the heart of God is that which often first lifts our own hearts above the mundane, and awakens longing and desire. It is that life...the life of your heart that God is most keenly after.” (Eldridge)

It’s funny how men can be so crazy about a girl, and then reach a point where he no longer, even, wants to speak to her. A girl can be the most beautiful thing that a guy has ever seen; however, given the right circumstance and the right amount of time, a guy will tend to look past that girl in search for beauty of a different sort. This leads me to the question, “what is it about the fresh, new beauty in a girl that guys seem to love so much? When I think about my day yesterday, what I realize is that the same beauty that we seek in finding a girl, whenever we feel that longing or desire, God makes evident in every other aspect of life. We just have to love Him enough to listen and remain observant.

Yesterday was the first day since we left for S. Africa that I could, honestly, proclaim to have placed God at the forefront of every thought. After the completion of my last blog and morning Scripture reading, I felt ready and ambitious to go about my day, walking directly under God’s wing.

The day started at 10am for us; upon which, we all ventured to the top of Cape Town’s infamous Table Top Mountain. The view at the top of the mountain was pure magic; however, what was even more astounding was the process in which God took in revealing, to me, this marvellous creation.

Before we set of for the summit of the mountain, I decided that it would be best for me to ask God to use this experience as a way to speak to me and help me to understand and love Him better. As we began driving up about 200 to 300 meters up the mountain, we could look out on a vast majority of the city. The sight was beautifully situated, and all of my teammates grabbed their cameras and started taking pictures of the landscape. I found myself praising God, already, for blessing me with an opportunity to witness such a sight. However, as we continued up the mountain, I looked up to the road and realized that we had a long way to the top; thus, I became excited. Once we reached about 600 meters we came to a building, where they had sky-lift trolleys that would take us the rest of the way up the mountain. At this point we all got out of the vehicle, which we had been traveling in, and again the cameras began snapping away. The city landscape was now magnified and you could see the entire northern portion of Cape Town, including the city harbour and the Atlantic Ocean. It was a gorgeous sight to see; so, again, I began silently praising God for creating such a masterpiece.

To be honest, once we got to this point, I wasn’t expecting much more. The city of Cape Town is, generally, one big cluster located along the front side of Table Top Mountain; thus, I didn’t think there would be much else to see. As we took the trolley up the mountain, however, we could witness the gradual extension of the entire land. I was mesmerized by the scene, and in a meditative state, I heard a voice in the back of my head: “It’s beautiful isn’t it.” I was talking to myself; at least, I thought I was until I looked up in the direction that the trolley was moving, to the mountaintop, and I heard another voice: “Would you like to see more?”

We exited the trolley and went through a small building, down a hallway, and past a small cafe until we were on the surface of the mountain. My heart dropped. At the base of the mountain, you would think that there was nothing but a completely flat terrain of dirt and sand (it is called Table Top Mountain because the top of the mountain appears to be a perfectly flat and horizontal surface from the base perspective). However, there were hills and valleys at the top with bushes and wildlife that blew me away. I looked to one of the hills leading higher up the mountain’s peak, and again heard, “Would you like to see more?” And, as I walked up and reached the top of the hill, the mountain seemed endless. I approached the edge on the backside of the mountain, and there it was – the entire backside of Cape Town, with miles upon miles of white sand beaches leading down to the glorious Cape Point.

It was at this point that I realized what God had been doing this entire time. I had been opening up, trying to get closer to God; and, all the while, He was pursuing me by continually revealing His endless love through His boundless Creation. I became speechless – All this time I wanted to feel God’s presence. It was at this point, however, that I realized that I was being romanced into understanding that God’s love surrounds us. We just have to ask Him to speak to us, listen, and observe.

I left Table Top Mountain with a revelation that life is not all about the struggle and the fight. Much of life is merely about God, trying to romance us and reveal His love for us. Moreover, if we can tap into how God wishes to reveal all the beauty that He provides for our lives; then we might strive to become more intimate with Him, and have a better understanding of the beauty that we seek in women, cars, careers, etc. – we will begin to realize how, even, the beauty that we seek in the things of this world that we use to replace God, all stem from God.

We went to the slums today and it was a very interesting way to confirm how we sometimes place far too much emphasis on our struggles. The people in these areas, within the Eastern parts of Cape Town live in houses that are, primarily, made of scrap metal, and are slightly larger than the blue dumpsters that are located in most alleyways and behind office buildings within our American/Canadian communities. There were no paved roads, and most of the kids that were at the camps that we coached did not have shoes to play in. Still, there were about 100-150 jubilant young souls, jumping, singing, dancing, shouting and cheering as we entered the camp site. Moreover, driving through the city, kids were running along the sides of the van, as older gentlemen would tip their hats and give us the thumbs-up. Everyone in the community seemed genuinely happy, and unperturbed that many of them might not eat during dinnertime, or have new clothes to change into the next morning.

I have never seen a group of people so humbled and so grateful; so disciplined and obedient; and, so passionate about their culture. On the way home I could hardly say a word. Through my experience today, I had seen beauty in its rawest form, and my heart was so full that I could have cried. I passed out as many clothes as I could stuff into a small bag, and it broke my heart that it wasn’t enough to clothe the entire community. And, still, they sang. They sang and all the way until we were on the van and leaving; and as I looked out the back window of the van, I could see them running earnestly after us as my teammates and I waved back to them, wishing that we could each grab just one hand of one kid and take them with us.

God blessed me today with an opportunity to realize how important it is to seek True beauty in life – that is, beauty that allows us to effect and impact people around us in a Christ-like manner, helping us to become more and more intimate with God. Luckily, I was able to do this for, at least one kid for sure. His name is Boné (Bon-knee). Boné is one of the teenage coaches at the Hoops for Hope organization in Africa, who talked to me about how I got to where I am today; more importantly, he asked me questions about how to make an impact as a role model for the young kids who look up to him. Boné is a great kid with a beautiful heart. We exchanged contact information, and I promised Boné that I will email him, even, when I am home about how to use God and scripture as a tool for becoming a great leader. I was truly blessed when Boné told me that he wanted to become my close friend, and for me to be his mentor. Furthermore, I praise God for giving me the strength and trusting me to to take on such a great task in His name, and for enhancing my ministry by one.

~ Tristan