Curt Thompson, MD

There are moments in life when time seems to fold in on itself.

This past weekend, I had the privilege of returning to speak at commencement for the second time at the place where so much of my own story was shaped more than forty years ago, Malone University.

I found myself deeply grateful—not only for the professors, mentors, and friends who first called forth my curiosity and courage, but also for those who continue that sacred work today in the lives of new graduates stepping into the world.

We do not become ourselves alone. We are all, in some way, the living inheritance of people who saw us, encouraged us, challenged us, and stayed with us. And who continue to do so.

And now another generation carries that work forward.

Always on the path of oncoming beauty.

This particular beauty was encountered in Amsterdam last week.

What we pay attention to shapes who we become, and the same is true for our kids.

Recently, Andy Crouch, author of "The Tech-Wise Family", joined Sissy Goff and David Thomas on the Raising Boys & Girls Podcast to talk about how the rise of AI is shaping the formation of our children.

In the conversation, Andy generously mentioned my work on rupture and repair.

Moments like that are more than an honor; they’re a reminder that none of us is doing this alone. We’re part of one body, one community, being formed together into the image of the King.

It is effortless for those of us who are not artists by profession or training to believe that, despite being God’s image bearers, we are not artists. Nothing could be further from the truth.

At the Square Halo conference this past weekend in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, we gathered to be reminded that beauty is the first thing we sense that tells us that God is in the room, and that his intention from the beginning, as his image bearers, is to co-create and curate beauty and goodness in the world, even as we become that very beauty in the process. That we are also broken has not deterred the Holy Trinity in its vision and mission for us.

It may be true that we have dulled our senses for so long that we are unaware of that mission (living as we often do, believing that the Bible begins in Genesis 3, not Genesis 1), but that doesn’t mean that the beauty of God is not present and seeking us. For indeed, he is continually looking for us as we look for him, and beauty is his vanguard announcing his coming.

Our trouble is that our unrepaired ruptures and the shame that maintains their hold on us keep us from sensing the beauty within our sightlines and hearing, that prevents us from being aware of what our bodies are taking in and telling us about the world. Mostly, our unhealed traumas deafen us to God’s tender whisper that tells us that we ourselves are becoming icons of beauty, icons that he is fashioning to become pillars in his temple of the new heaven and earth that are coming.

What are the places within you where God longs to bring forth beauty from ashes? And as a result, where does he then desire to create beauty and goodness in the world by co-laboring with you to breathe it into being?

If you long to be with others who are working to answer these questions, Square Halo is a wonderful place to find traveling companions.