When I was in my thirties, I had migraines. They were especially frequent during my three years of seminary. Light was a problem, and everybody was yelling.

So, when I went to the Hyde Park Art Festival last Sunday, I was intrigued to chat with a migraine artist. Here is picture of a package of coasters I bought from her:

I haven’t had the courage yet to use these as coasters. Too pretty.

The artist, Priya Rama, has a wonderful slogan for her business: “Transforming Pain into Beauty”. When I had migraines, I never saw the beauty that she apparently does see. I saw squiggles, but they were grey.

However, I suspect that we can all transform pain into beauty in some way or another. Don’t get me wrong. Pain is still pain. But I’ve met people—real people—who found ways to transform pain into beauty.

In the midst of Judah’s exile to Babylon, the prophet Isaiah spoke the following words to a discouraged people who were in desperate pain:

“Is. 61:1          The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,

                        because the LORD has anointed me

             to bring good news to the poor;

                        he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

             to proclaim liberty to the captives,

                        and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

²           to proclaim the year of the LORD’S favor,

                        and the day of vengeance of our God;

                        to comfort all who mourn;

³           to grant to those who mourn in Zion—

                        to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,

             the oil of gladness instead of mourning,

                        the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;

             that they may be called oaks of righteousness,

                        the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.

⁴           They shall build up the ancient ruins;

                        they shall raise up the former devastations;

             they shall repair the ruined cities,

                        the devastations of many generations.

Is. 61:5            Strangers shall stand and tend your flocks;

                        foreigners shall be your plowmen and vinedressers;

⁶           but you shall be called the priests of the LORD;

                        they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God;

             you shall eat the wealth of the nations,

                        and in their glory you shall boast.

⁷           Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion;

                        instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot;

             therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion;

                        they shall have everlasting joy.

Is. 61:8            For I the LORD love justice;

                        I hate robbery and wrong;

             I will faithfully give them their recompense,

                        and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

⁹           Their offspring shall be known among the nations,

                        and their descendants in the midst of the peoples;

             all who see them shall acknowledge them,

                        that they are an offspring the LORD has blessed.

Is. 61:10          I will greatly rejoice in the LORD;

                        my soul shall exult in my God,

             for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;

                        he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,

             as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress,

                        and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

¹¹         For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,

                        and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up,

             so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise

                        to sprout up before all the nations.” (English Standard Version)

Apparently, God is an ancient practitioner of turning pain into beauty.

Many centuries later, Jesus would use these words (or at least some of them) as the basis of his inaugural sermon in his hometown (Luke 4:14-30). While he did not quote the bit about beauty from ashes (Isaiah 61:3), Jesus did speak a lot about pain. The story goes that he later took our sins, our pains, our guilts on himself at the cross. The cross, which was an ugly instrument of pain and torture, became a beautiful thing in Jesus. For those of us who are following Jesus, however stumblingly, this is the ultimate transformation of pain into beauty.