Fireworks

What a beautiful thing.

As the Fourth of July passed, and all the American flags are being put away, I've thought about fireworks. Not just the interesting science behind them, but also how intriguing the concept is. Different minerals spontaneously combust to explode into millions of tiny fractures of the same piece. I mean, really, who thought of that idea?

"Dude. I just got this brilliant idea."
"What is it this time?"
"I'm gonna take all this phosphorous Dad brought home from work, stuff some gunpowder in there, then put it in a plastic casing so it'll fly and explode somewhere else."
"... That has got to be the stupidest idea ever."

Yet it still happened. It's estimated there's about 4 deaths every year from fireworks in the United States alone. Fireworks were invented in 1040 A.D. That's about 3896 people that have died from fireworks since they were invented. Okay, so maybe I used a bit of sketchy math, but still, you get the idea. THEY'RE DANGEROUS PEOPLE. But yet we still use them? Why?

This past year, I got the opportunity to sit right up close and personal with the fireworks. Along with like 2,000 other people, but still, I realized today something that I've never noticed before: the beauty. Each firework was unique. They only lasted for a second, but each second had something new in store.

What was even more amazing, though, was the concept of beauty that was displayed. Symmetry, color, sparkle, brilliance- all things that were displayed as beautiful in the fireworks. And as funny as it is, that's what we look for in people, too, isn't it? The symmetry of their face. The color of their hair or skin. The sparkle of their nail polish. The brilliance of their beauty. But is that what we need to be looking for? What if we're looking at the wrong thing? Maybe, instead of the surface-level beauties that we think we're seeing, what if we're really seeing more beautiful characteristics on the inside?

The symmetry of their love.
The color of their personality.
The sparkle in their eyes.
And the brilliance of God shining through them.




I don't know about you, but those are the things that I love in a person. And God has blessed me with people that are full of them.