BEAUTY... AS I SEE IT

      Recently, our daughter, Kelli, who did a lot of good work with "BeautiGrow," asked me to weigh in with a few thoughts on beauty. So, even though I don't know any more about beauty than anyone else, I will share my thoughts with her (and you).
      First, I confess that I didn't give "beauty" much, if any, thought for the first 40 years of my life. Some of the girls had pretty faces and some of the kids were cute, but I didn't consider them to be beautiful. Some of the mountaintop views that I saw were panoramic and some of the golf holes that I played were more "interesting" than others... but I didn't think about any of them as being beautiful. And so it was with everything else for me... because I was in a rush to get from here to there and because my own spirit was unsettled. A mind that is preoccupied with "self" will never appreciate "beauty" in things outside of oneself... and a spirit that is preoccupied with whether the "grass is greener" down the road will never be able to see beauty in the present moment. Thus, I believe that "seeing beauty" requires a settled mind and spiritual maturity. Beauty may be all around us, but we will never see it if we consumed with ourselves.
      Concerning "beauty" itself, I have decided that all things natural and authentic are beautiful because they are exactly the way they're supposed to be. Artificial people and things, no matter how brightly they shine... have no beauty to me, and no one can be beautiful by pretending to be someone that he or she is not. At this point in my life, I see beauty everywhere around me. Old men and women are beautiful in their "character," and children are beautiful in the "innocence." Thinking back, I see that my father's calloused blue-collar hands were "beautiful," and I can still seeing him washing them with Lava. Also, as I look back on it, the Iowa river, where we used to fish for catfish... was "beautiful" because it didn't pretend to be anything more than it was.
      I wish I had seen more beauty in those days. It was all around me, but as I've come to accept myself, I am able to see beauty easily now- especially in those things and people who are authentic.  They come in all shapes and forms, all ages and colors. I could name names- hundred of names- of men, women, and children... who are entirely beautiful. Some of them (like me) are overweight, some are socially awkward (they talk to much and laugh to loudly), some are disabled (who isn't) in one way or another, some have known a demon or two, and some are not quite ready for primetime...but each one of them is "beautiful" because they've come to "own their lives" and "accept the journey" that they're on. They are "at peace" with what they had done, where they are, and where they're going... and it is this "peace" that makes them beautiful.
      Yes, I've been blessed in the last many years, to live around and know many, many "beautiful" people... and I am very grateful. But it's not just the people who are beautiful to me- so is the created world, even the ordinary world here on the plain. Sometimes, when I'm walking Buffy, I clear my mind of all thoughts... and simply blend in with the world. Without labeling it, I feel the wind against my face and hear the ducks as they flight over me. I let myself feel the contour of the land and I look around to see "who's" sharing the walk with me. The unkempt bushes, the fallen tree limb lying across the path, the vehicles traveling on road, the shallow creek that doesn't make much noise, and if it's night, the street lights as they reflect off of our artificial little pond... it is all breathtakingly beautiful because it's real and authentic and exactly the way it ought to be!
      Beauty, to me, is more of a spiritual thing than a physical thing, and it radiates from us, no matter our appearance...when we accept ourselves, our fellow travelers, and the world we live in... as we find them... and as we all become what we are called to be... in God's gracious hands and His sovereign plan for us. Amen.