Finding Beauty

[M. T. Cross]

Finding Beauty

Beauty.

I don't mean the kind that is slammed in our faces every day by the media.

I am talking about approaching life finding the beauty.

People like to complain, it seems to be an inbred part of our nature. But what good does it do us?

Its all about perception.

Spring is a muddy mess. But look at the new leaves, the new grass, the flowers. Get the garden planted, feel the suns warmth again

Summer is too hot. But those warm rays feed the planet, they nourish us and the food we will eat. Swimming, camping, hiking! Way to much stuff to do!

Fall is hectic and cold. Look at the colours, even the sky and the sun seem softer and more gentle. Raking leaves and watching kids jump in the middle of those leaves kicking them around. It never gets old even if you do.

Winter has snow!! Its cold!! Snowmen, snowball fights, sledding skating! A time to spend more time in doors with those we love.

Lets go a little further. Lets explore beauty in people. There are people that we will never get along with. But each person has their own story, their own reason for how they are. I used to know this lady at work. No-one liked her. She was mean, she really was. Just an old divorced woman that was very bitter. She also preached at people all the time. So I thought I would try something. I started saying good morning to her every day. Then I would ask her how her day was going at lunch time. I got a lot of grunts and glares. Then after a time she would say good morning to me first. She would answer me. She quit preaching and just talked to me. We got talking about how we both loved reading. She decided she was going to move out of town, she could not take all her stuff. I ended up with about $2000 worth of hardcover books, and some very nice bookshelves from her. She just brought them to my house and gave them to me without saying a word about it. She was grinning ear to ear. She got a chance to show her beauty. Sometimes all it takes is some kind words.

We argue a lot with people that do not believe the same as us. The message they have is wrong!! We are right!! We miss the beauty of difference. Difference is our divinely given gift. That alone is beauty in its self. But its like a puzzle. There are many different pieces. Each one can be beautiful in of its own. But put those different pieces together and you find a beautiful picture. So rather than spending our time fighting and arguing with others over who is right and who is wrong, why not do the puzzle and find the beauty.

[Gail]

Wow! What prompted that?

Quote:

Lets go a little further. Lets explore beauty in people. There are people that we will never get along with. But each person has their own story, their own reason for how they are. I used to know this lady at work. No-one liked her. She was mean, she really was. Just an old divorced woman that was very bitter. She also preached at people all the time. So I thought I would try something. I started saying good morning to her every day. Then I would ask her how her day was going at lunch time. I got a lot of grunts and glares. Then after a time she would say good morning to me first. She would answer me. She quit preaching and just talked to me. We got talking about how we both loved reading. She decided she was going to move out of town, she could not take all her stuff. I ended up with about $2000 worth of hardcover books, and some very nice bookshelves from her. She just brought them to my house and gave them to me without saying a word about it. She was grinning ear to ear. She got a chance to show her beauty. Sometimes all it takes is some kind words.

Sounds like it was a blessing to both of you!

That is probably one reason why God says that "Man looketh upon the outward appearance, but God looketh on the heart" 1 Samuel 16:7

It's interesting that she did the preaching but what ministered was love.

[M. T. Cross]

Wow! What prompted that?

Look around the board here Gail. What percentage of threads have people arguing, often bitterly with tons of jabs and snide remarks about their loving God. About a message that is supposed to be one of hope and beauty. I too have fallen for it from time to time. It makes me disgusted when I do.

Look at the many forums here. Then look where all the action is. Its always where the most drama is. Looking down at the health section - its pretty forgotten! Of course that is what I mean by it seems to be a natural part of how humans interact with each other.

But.

We can find the beauty if we try. It all depends on what we are looking for.

When I was younger I insisted that every person had a good side you just needed to find it. When I went to church I used to irritate the elders and pastor by insisting that. By insisting we should sped less time looking at sin and more time celebrating the beauty.

Somewhere along the line I got very jaded and very angry. I quit looking for the beauty and the goodness. I gave up.

But in recent years I have started to surround myself with people that looked for the silver lining. They acknowledge the cloud, the don't wear rose coloured glasses, but they pick their focus. Its been very good for me.

A couple weeks ago I got my first full pay cheque in 5 years. My boss had lent me some money to help me buy my house. It was finally paid off. The irony was - that was the very day that I lost possession of my house to the mortgage company. I focussed on the full paycheque. Not because I was not aware of the negative, there was just nothing left that I could do to change it. So I found the beauty instead. It gives strength.

If God does exist I think thats why he/she/it put so much beauty around us. To give us strength. To give us something positive to focus on. We just too often choose to ignore it.

[Q.E.D.]

Finding Beauty

Beauty.

I don't mean the kind that is slammed in our faces every day by the media.

I am talking about approaching life finding the beauty.

"2 Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness."(Ps 29:2)

Q.E.D.

[Q.E.D.]

People like to complain, it seems to be an inbred part of our nature. But what good does it do us?

"11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content."(Phil 4:11)

Q.E.D.

[Q.E.D.]

Spring is a muddy mess. But look at the new leaves, the new grass, the flowers. Get the garden planted, feel the suns warmth again

Summer is too hot. But those warm rays feed the planet, they nourish us and the food we will eat. Swimming, camping, hiking! Way to much stuff to do!

Fall is hectic and cold. Look at the colours, even the sky and the sun seem softer and more gentle. Raking leaves and watching kids jump in the middle of those leaves kicking them around. It never gets old even if you do.

Winter has snow!! Its cold!! Snowmen, snowball fights, sledding skating! A time to spend more time in doors with those we love.

"In the beginning, God was revealed in all the works of creation. It was Christ that spread the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth. It was His hand that hung the worlds in space, and fashioned the flowers of the field. "His strength setteth fast the mountains." "The sea is His, and He made it." Ps. 65:6; 95:5. It was He that filled the earth with beauty, and the air with song. And upon all things in earth, and air, and sky, He wrote the message of the Father's love. Now sin has marred God's perfect work, yet that handwriting remains. Even now all created things declare the glory of His excellence. There is nothing, save the selfish heart of man, that lives unto itself. No bird that cleaves the air, no animal that moves upon the ground, but ministers to some other life. There is no leaf of the forest, or lowly blade of grass, but has its ministry. Every tree and shrub and leaf pours forth that element of life without which neither man nor animal could live; and man and animal, in turn, minister to the life of tree and shrub and leaf. The flowers breathe fragrance and unfold their beauty in blessing to the world. The sun sheds its light to gladden a thousand worlds. The ocean, itself the source of all our springs and fountains, receives the streams from every land, but takes to give. The mists ascending from its bosom fall in showers to water the earth, that it may bring forth and bud."(DA, 20-21)

Q.E.D.

[Q.E.D.]

Let's go a little further. Let's explore beauty in people. There are people that we will never get along with. But each person has their own story, their own reason for how they are. I used to know this lady at work. No-one liked her. She was mean, she really was. Just an old divorced woman that was very bitter. She also preached at people all the time. So I thought I would try something. I started saying good morning to her every day. Then I would ask her how her day was going at lunch time. I got a lot of grunts and glares. Then after a time she would say good morning to me first. She would answer me. She quit preaching and just talked to me. We got talking about how we both loved reading. She decided she was going to move out of town, she could not take all her stuff. I ended up with about $2000 worth of hardcover books, and some very nice bookshelves from her. She just brought them to my house and gave them to me without saying a word about it. She was grinning ear to ear. She got a chance to show her beauty. Sometimes all it takes is some kind words.

"A woman of Samaria approached, and seeming unconscious of His presence, filled her pitcher with water. As she turned to go away, Jesus asked her for a drink. Such a favor no Oriental would withhold. In the East, water was called "the gift of God." To offer a drink to the thirsty traveler was held to be a duty so sacred that the Arabs of the desert would go out of their way in order to perform it. The hatred between Jews and Samaritans prevented the woman from offering a kindness to Jesus; but the Saviour was seeking to find the key to this heart, and with the tact born of divine love, He asked, not offered, a favor. The offer of a kindness might have been rejected; but trust awakens trust. The King of heaven came to this outcast soul, asking a service at her hands. He who made the ocean, who controls the waters of the great deep, who opened the springs and channels of the earth, rested from His weariness at Jacob's well, and was dependent upon a stranger's kindness for even the gift of a drink of water."(DA, 183-184)

Q.E.D.

[Q.E.D.]

We argue a lot with people that do not believe the same as us. The message they have is wrong!! We are right!! We miss the beauty of difference. Difference is our divinely given gift. That alone is beauty in its self. But its like a puzzle. There are many different pieces. Each one can be beautiful in of its own. But put those different pieces together and you find a beautiful picture. So rather than spending our time fighting and arguing with others over who is right and who is wrong, why not do the puzzle and find the beauty.

"31 Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.

32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.

33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.

36 And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.

37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it."(Matt 10:31-39)

Q.E.D.

[Overaged]

When I was younger I insisted that every person had a good side you just needed to find it. When I went to church I used to irritate the elders and pastor by insisting that. By insisting we should sped less time looking at sin and more time celebrating the beauty.

But in recent years I have started to surround myself with people that looked for the silver lining. They acknowledge the cloud, the don't wear rose coloured glasses, but they pick their focus. Its been very good for me.

A couple weeks ago I got my first full pay cheque in 5 years. My boss had lent me some money to help me buy my house. It was finally paid off. The irony was - that was the very day that I lost possession of my house to the mortgage company. I focussed on the full paycheque. Not because I was not aware of the negative, there was just nothing left that I could do to change it. So I found the beauty instead. It gives strength.

If God does exist I think thats why he/she/it put so much beauty around us. To give us strength. To give us something positive to focus on. We just too often choose to ignore it.

You know; my dear Grandmother, when she was alive used to say: "Life is a garden, so dig it." I think you two are/were on the same wavelength...

I believe that the "strength" you mentioned receiving when we choose our focus, and seek the beauty, is something that Isaiah had in mind when he said:

"They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles..." (Isa 40:31)

Atleast this is how I have grown to see my own, similar experiences.

Thanks for sharing this. It is encouraging.

[M. T. Cross]

I probably would have liked your grandmother

I don't mean finding beauty in a airy fairy, butterfly's and rainbows kind of way. (tho butterfly's and rainbows are cool too)

There is beauty that can be found in many things. It can be found in an MMA fight as much as it can be in a ballet. There is a beauty in defending your family and your friends.

I don't think one should constantly run from things that are not things of beauty, but as said earlier the ugly should not be the focus. Like I said earlier, be aware of the cloud behind the silver lining, or one is just fooling oneself.

[Overaged]

I probably would have liked your grandmother

I don't mean finding beauty in a airy fairy, butterfly's and rainbows kind of way. (tho butterfly's and rainbows are cool too)

LOL; well the MMA thing; I am not so sure if one is the recipient of it. I have been on two occasions...but come to think of it. There is some "beauty" in the fact that I did live to talk about it..

I agree; there is beauty everywhere. One thing I keep trying to instill into the young people I know is "Keep smiling, there is always a reason."

It stems from the times years ago when I used to stay at Grandmas house overnight, and I would be lying on the wooden floor in a sleeping bag, and we would have those precious quiet talks in the dark of the night. She was Catholic; and we would sometimes have a great debate re praying to Mary, and that would last until all of a sudden, a wall was hit. And silence would ensue for a moment in the dark. Meaning that one of us had reached our "limit."

And then she would tell me how much she loved me, and was so glad that I was here, and all the wonderful plans we had for the next day...

I always remembered those quiet talks in the dark; for out of them I grew up knowing that someone loved me so unconditionally that it just didn't matter what I believed or how "bad" or "wrong" I was. At the end of it all; inspite of it all; her greatest desire was to just be with me, do things with/for me, to talk of all the wonderful plans she had for me, to bless me and comfort me...

Yes; my Grandma truly knew how to dig the garden. You would have loved her. Even today, 4 years after her passing; when I see no light - no hope, i can go back to those quiet talks in the dark, and find a small seed to plant somewhere...(see Isa 40:31)