Walking the Way: The Invitation to a Beautiful Life
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“Preach the Gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words.” (St. Francis of Assisi)
For most of my life, I’ve stood behind a pulpit—proclaiming the gospel, week after week. But these days, I find myself more convinced than ever that the most powerful sermons are not preached in words, but in the way we live.
To live a beautiful life is to bear witness—not merely to speak of love or truth, but to embody them. The real gospel is not confined to what we say from the pulpit or pew; it’s revealed in how we walk through the world.
Too often, the church has emphasized being a witness rather than bearing witness. We talk about the need for more light in the world, but forget that we are called to be that light. The truest testimony of the gospel is how we forgive, how we listen, how we show compassion, how we love.
After over forty years of preaching, I’ve come to see that my life itself has become the pulpit. My hope—and perhaps yours too—is to live in such a way that our very lives become the sermon.
Let us preach the gospel by living a beautiful life.
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What Is a Beautiful Life?
Anne Lamott once said:
“Everyone is screwed up, broken, clingy, and scared… even the people who seem to have it all together. They are much more like you than you would believe.”
Those words ring true. They remind us that perfection is a myth. Beneath the curated images and polished exteriors, we are all doing our best to find meaning and peace.
We’re all a little cracked—and maybe that’s where grace does its best work.
As Leonard Cohen wrote:
“There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.”
A beautiful life isn’t about having it all together.
It’s about how we show up…
how we love…
how we forgive…
how we pay attention.
Life is rarely neat or easy. We stumble. We get hurt. We lose our way. Yet right in the middle of the mess, something beautiful can emerge.
True beauty is goodness you can see. It’s not perfection, but presence—a life that reflects the quiet grace and love within the soul.
A beautiful life, then, is not accidental. It is cultivated with intention and nourished through attention.
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The Beauty of Jesus
Jesus lived the most beautiful life ever lived.
Not by worldly standards—not through power, status, or appearance—but through the depth of His love. He radiated compassion and strength, grace and truth, humility and courage.
His life moved at the pace of grace: never hurried, never harsh, always attentive to the person in front of Him.
Jesus noticed people others ignored.
He paused when others rushed.
He loved where others judged.
He saw the sacred in the ordinary.
To walk in His way is to learn that beauty is born of love, shaped by compassion, and sustained by grace. Jesus shows us what the beautiful life looks like in human form—and He invites us into that same way of being.
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The Beautiful Life Doesn’t Just Happen
It’s easy to talk about faith, hope, and love. It’s harder to live them.
Words matter. But witness is everything.
A beautiful life is formed through intention. It takes courage to live differently in a culture obsessed with noise, anger, fear, speed, and competition. We become what we fix our attention on:
When we obsess over outrage, we become anxious and reactive. When we chase status, we become competitive and insecure. When we feed on fear, we become cynical and closed off.
But when we turn our attention toward God—toward goodness, truth, and beauty—we are slowly transformed into what we behold.
The beautiful life begins not with activity, but with attention.
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Why Beauty Matters in an Age of Division
Beauty has never been more needed.
We live in a world where ugliness shouts—where suspicion and outrage trend, and where tribalism divides us. In such a climate, living a beautiful life isn’t sentimental; it’s subversive. It is an act of resistance.
A life shaped by love, compassion, and courage becomes a quiet revolution. It says:
“The darkness does not get the final word.”
True beauty has the power to heal what cynicism fractures. It awakens the heart, disarms the ego, and draws us back toward goodness. It reminds us that mercy is stronger than judgment, hope deeper than despair, and love far more enduring than hate.
To live beautifully is to refuse to cave in to the pessimism and hostility of the age. It is to embody another way—the way of the Kingdom of God.
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The Practice of Becoming
Elizabeth Kübler-Ross wrote, “Beautiful people do not just happen.”
The same is true of a beautiful life.
It is shaped in silence, gratitude, humility, and compassion.
It grows when we slow down, listen, and pay attention.
It deepens when we choose forgiveness, kindness, and presence.
This is the heart of the A Beautiful Life series—an exploration of the rhythms of grace and the daily practices that form us into people who reflect God’s quiet goodness in the world.
Together, we will learn what it means to live with presence, gratitude, courage, and love in a world that pulls us toward distraction and division.
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The Invitation–Let’s Walk Together
As we begin this journey, here is the invitation:
What if you chose to live a beautiful life?
What if you slowed down enough to notice God’s fingerprints on your ordinary days?
What if you carried grace into spaces that feel anything but graceful?
A beautiful life is not about perfection—it’s about presence.
It’s about learning to see differently.
To live gently.
To love deeply.
Because the world doesn’t need more noise.
It needs more people committed to living beautifully.
EnSpirit 