For artist and author Josh Nadeau, simple moments of beauty, such as a shared smile from across a room, brewing morning coffee in a dawn-filled kitchen, or reading bedtime stories to your child beneath quilted blankets, are invitations into holiness.

On October 22, 2025, 佩珀代因大学's 属灵生活中心 invited Nadeau to discuss his new book, 让美好的事物顺其自然, which includes personal encounters with the sanctifying beauty of daily life and the stability of God’s grace through cycles of hardship. Featuring original illustrations which layer religious iconography with contemporary styles, Nadeau’s book unites his visual art and literary voice, inviting his audience to enter into the holy ordinary through the beauty of Christ.

Nadeau

Reading from the book’s first chapter, “Symphony of Hitting Rock Bottom,” Nadeau described his experiences of self-numbing a gnawing spiritual pain while grappling with the expected “veneer and performance of public life.” At the time, he shares his life was picture perfect from the outside. He was newly wed to his wife, fully integrated into church life, and had received his master’s degree in theological studies, yet his struggles with depression and addiction remained. But here, Nadeau explains, is where he found “the hidden grace of hitting rock bottom.”

纳多写道：“永恒的音乐是为了揭示而隐藏起来的。” “That's when I heard some echo of eternity cycling through the city with a storm of sick in my stomach. 我听到了比痛苦更强烈的声音，有什么在呼唤我。 即使在底部，也有什么东西在乞求被听到。 这是诱人的。 It was inviting. 它要求被找到。 There was nowhere to go but out or up, and I chose up.”

Nadeau encouraged the audience to see that receiving God’s presence is not arcane, but does involve intentionally recognizing that the beauty of ordinary images and deeds point to God’s grace and goodness. This truth enables one to uncover their greater purpose as God’s creation while living to glorify Him through the blessings and trials of daily life.

纳多（右）与多洛夫（左）交谈

Nadeau’s talk was followed by a discussion with Coby Dolloff, executive writer in 佩珀代因大学’s Integrated Marketing Communications department and cohost of Pepptalk播客, along with time for audience questions.

“Beauty is that thing that invites you, and it apprehends you before your mind has the ability to rationally digest it,” Nadeau said in response to Dolloff’s further inquiry about beauty as an apologetic. “Christian history has agreed that there are these three primary transcendentals—goodness, truth, and beauty—and they find their source in God.”

Nadeau explained that often beauty precedes the two, adding, “When you see a great piece of art or you listen to someone's story, you are emotionally and spiritually moved before you can theologically assess. 美能领悟一切。”

While answering audience questions, Nadeau emphasized that the Christian life is one of embodied presence, where one need not neglect their physical life for the spiritual; rather personal healing and flourishing comes from an enmeshment of the two, through appreciating all elements of God’s creation in daily life.

学生 in the audience, such as current Seaver senior Arik Chu, affirmed Nadeau's sentiments that beauty can serve as an invitation into spiritual and intellectual reflection. Chu believes that Nadeau’s artwork and writing have gained popularity online due their life-affirming ability to spiritually connect with audiences across digital platforms.

朱棣文正在提问（右二）

“Nadeau is right about beauty being the most effective shock to the system for the modern reader, logical arguments have lost their force because people don’t see a world worth investigating," Chu shared. “The digital seems to have flattened all things to be lifeless and expendable, but Nadeau’s use of iconography in and outside of social media is an outright rejection of those assumptions.”

From the evergreen-laden country of West Coast Canada, Nadeau has engaged in projects across the region and the US, appeared on numerous podcasts, written articles for magazines and websites, and has created art for 乔丹彼得森的 “历史 of Western Civilization” series. Nadeau is known widely for his artwork on the popular Instagram account swordandpencil and for the writing he shares on his Substack account Every Day Saints.

“我们的灵魂可以教导我们的身体； 我们的身体可以教导我们的灵魂，”纳多说道。 “Reading this book is an engaging time to help you develop the palette for an embodied way of expressing your life. If we believe that beauty finds its source in God, this is a gateway into participating in the divine life.”