I wonder... #18

I wonder...

My Lord, I find that nothing else will do,
But follow where thou goest, sit at thy feet,
And where I have thee not, still run to meet.
Roses are scentless, hopeless are the morns,
Rest is but weakness, laughter crackling thorns,
If thou, the Truth, do not make them true:
Thou art my life, O Christ, and nothing else will do.

What does it mean to acknowledge that God is the heart of every joy and that without Him there is no beauty, rest, hope, or happiness? What would it look like (practically speaking) to live out this principle? What decisions would you make? How would you spend your time? What would your thoughts and conversations consist of?

In prayer, the practical outworking of this principle seems rather clear (i.e. see poem). But when I am talking with friends, reading books, looking at art, listening to music etc., its implications on my conduct are not very clear.

In my own life I have felt a tension between delighting in God and delighting in His creation. Receiving blessings is hard to do (i.e. to be the pure man to whom all things are pure). Yet it is vital to learn how to receive blessings, because we are creatures and creatures (by being contingent beings) are naturally recipients of blessing. You have been receiving and will receive blessings every second of your life. God grant discernment on how to receive His blessings well and live out the Psalmist's prayer:

"One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple." (Psalm 27:4)