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Are any of you into video gamers? A fantastic new game on the PlayStation 5 called Astro Bot has captured my imagination in the last few weeks. It’s spooky season, so I had been playing Alien: Isolation, a game set in the Alien cinematic universe. You know, the one with the slimy alien with a tiny mouth inside an even bigger mouth? Alien: Isolation scares me like nothing else can. I can watch the scariest movie of all time and not bat an eye. I might even laugh! But a horror video game? My palms are sweating just thinking about it.

I needed a little respite from the horror, and that’s when I discovered Astro Bot. You play as a precious but powerful little robot flying throughout the universe, trying to rescue other cutesy little robots. In total, there are 301 robots to rescue, scattered around 30 different levels. Most of the levels are set in brightly colored worlds populated by monkeys, kittens, puppies, and any number of other cute animals. Oh, did I mention they are robot animals? And the music! The music works its way into your brain like the best kind of earworm. As you jump, fly, and save your robotic friends, it’s as if you are watching a live-action version of the most sugary-sweet Saturday morning cartoon ever. It is the polar opposite of Alien: Isolation, and it has stayed with me even after I found all 301 robots and mastered the game.

Astro Bot came at the right time for me. With all the pain in the world, I needed something to act like a curative, something that would balance the horror. My spirituality does this, of course, as does laughing and cheering with my family while we watch the WWE champion take on all comers in the middle of the squared circle. But Astro Bot feels different. Watching the colors on the screen, listening to the music, and appreciating the artistry of the game was like drinking a gallon of pure serotonin. Playing the game made me happier. Though you might never have had an experience like this with video gaming, it’s no different than the way other art lifts our spirits and reminds us of the beauty in the world. Make no mistake: Astro Bot is a work of art, and it does precisely what art is supposed to do. It inspires.

These kinds of ‘spirit-lifters’ aren’t meant to mask the world’s horror. It’s not as if by playing Astro Bot I was suddenly convinced that the world had become an idyllic paradise. Rather, this kind of beauty reminds us that the world is not completely horrifying. The world is not just a simmering cauldron of pain. It’s also a place of tremendous beauty. You don’t even need Astro Bot to remind you of this. You can walk by the river, gaze out upon the Pamlico, and know that there is still plenty of beauty to go around.

In my tradition, we sing a hymn that begins with the words, “Christ whose glory fills the skies.” It reminds me that above all things, below all things, beside and within all things, the goodness and grandeur of Christ is made known. Christ’s glory fills the waters. It fills the trees. It fills the canvas upon which Michelangelo painted “The Creation of Adam.” And Christ’s glory even fills Astro Bot. Maybe the language of “Christ” doesn’t work for you. That’s alright. Swap it with the word “Beauty.” There is beauty everywhere! There is still joy to be found on this fragile earth, our island home. Celebrate it whenever and wherever you find it, even in the face of a cute little robot who just wants to find his friends.

Chris Adams is the Rector of St. peter’s Episcopal Church in Washington.