Ruthless Trust: The Ragamuffin's Path to God

by Brennan Manning

As a child, John Henry Newman imagined that behind every flower there lurked an angel who made it grow and blossom. Later in life, as the foremost theologian in England, he wrote, “The reality is more profound. It is God Himself who can be discovered in the beauty of sensible things.” Even Jesus marveled at the beauty surrounding him. “Look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them” (Matt. 6:28–29, The Message). Those who look beyond the literal see the world as a metaphor for God. When they direct us to the majesty of the mountains, the beauty of the prairies, the variety of wildflowers along the roadside, the smell of mint and hay on a summer morning, the rumble of a train through the valley, the sound of a waterfall, they birth the Word in our midst. They dare us to dream of our homeland, where eye has not seen, neither has ear heard, nor has the imagination conceived of the beauty that awaits us.