The common denominator in the room was not the fact that we were beer enthusiasts, frequenters of Office Depot, or simply wishful-thinking folk, but that we gathered people hungry for Beauty in light of the Gospel Truth longing to share it where God calls us.
This was the heart of Aires Patulot’s talk that evening, who is the founder of Called to Rise Ministries and our keynote for the evening.
He opens the talk with the simple question, “Have you even been caught STARING?” He notes that Beauty has three natures: it multiplies itself, inexhaustible, and unlimited. Using funny embarrassing stories as well as illustrating our human relatable experiences, Aires sums up humanity’s insatiable desire for the beautiful.
Ultimately, there is something about Beauty that communicates the Truth of the Divine as well the human experience that captures the witness beyond knowledge or articulation. Beauty is God Himself that reveals Himself in all that He has created, making this world (to quote Aires) a “God-infused” world.
Aires continues to inspire us with the reality that we are reflections of God as Creator, and subsequently, we are beckoned to participate by our own diverse ways we live that out that response. He closes with statements that sparks the shared consensus in the room that we are in fact “better together” and “let us be caught SHARING.”