How Form Follows Function

Earlier this week, while driving down Hospitality Lane, I noticed a Land Rover pulling into a parking lot. As I passed it by I was struck by how incredibly unattractive the vehicle was to look at. It was just a box on wheels. And I thought to myself, what a great example of how form follows function. Now, I don’t mean that the car is good-for-nothing and so looks like it too. I mean it made me think of other cars that I have seen (and now see in my mind’s eye) that are indeed nice to look at.

We all have the picture in our minds of what a “beauty of a car” looks like (my apologies to those for whom the Land Rover is one such vehicle). It seems to me that the cars that I think look good have something in common besides just a pleasing figure; they have sound aerodynamic design. Those cars best suited to minimize wind resistance often seem also to be some of the best looking vehicles out there. The form follows the function.

When a car is made to best conform to the laws of physics that our Creator put in place, it turns out that the design of the car naturally takes on a form of beauty.

Rick Warren shares that “you are God’s handcrafted work of art. You are not an assembly-line product, mass produced without thought. You are a custom-designed, one-of-a-kind, original masterpiece” (Purpose-Driven Life, p. 235).

Take a good look at yourself. Go ahead. I’ll wait… Still waiting. Okay. Well, if you don’t have a mirror handy now, definitely spend an extra moment next time you pass a mirror (I figure that is already common practice for you anyway).

Right now, take a look inside yourself. You might find baggage from the past, emotional spider webs, all sorts of things you wish were not there. But look past all that. Do you see beauty? It’s there. God had a purpose in mind when creating each of us. And He placed in us all that is necessary to fulfill that purpose. We were designed to fulfill a function, to do things only God has yet imagined, but it’s in the plan. And it just so happens that the gifts, abilities, personalities and passions that He infused into us naturally take on a form of beauty.

Our True Glory

Get into gear! Yes, Fall is here, the changing of seasons, the drift into winter, the launching pad of holidays, and the end of the year is being summoned. This time of year seems to go by so quickly. Of course, it has been said that we say that every year. My conclusion? Life is short. It seems we get about 80 years in life these days. That means we’ve lived at least a quarter of our lives already. What will we do with the rest of our days?

What did you do today? How about yesterday? Do you have a sense of significance or accomplishment in your daily life?

I can tell you that I am personally going through a new season of life. Like leaves falling from trees God is stripping away things in my life and my heart and leaving me emotionally and spiritually bare—transparent and vulnerable before Him. He is exposing me, revealing not only his heart for me, but my own heart to me. He is helping me face my weaknesses and lack. I fall terribly short of his design for my life in so many ways—as a son, brother, friend, leader, and ambassador of God’s kingdom. But God is not showing me this to make me feel bad or by way of scolding me. In fact, I feel his love more deeply and his presence more surely than before. I have a real sense of his guidance and hand on every moment and detail of my life.

See, the thing about a tree losing its leaves is we get to see its true glory. Its glory does not come from the beauty of its leaves but from the nourishment of the soil, rain and sun. The tree digs its roots into the ground and gets its life from a source beyond itself, as rain and soil mix. And it stretches its branches up high to take in the rays of the sun. In the same way, when we are laid bare before God, we can see what we really need, what truly sustains us: God’s Word, God’s Spirit, and God’s Love. Without Him we can do nothing.