We miss a lot. Life is busy. Let’s be honest, it’s hard not to think about what we are going to do next, even when someone is pouring out their heart to us. We can be so agenda driven that we only think about the end goal and regard the journey as only a necessary evil to achieve the desired outcome. Own personal “disc drive” is so consumed with the necessary, there is no space for the spontaneous, the unexpected, or the beautiful. It’s difficult to just be in the moment and soak it up for all it’s worth.
So, I am making a plea for us to ring out every bit of beauty and joy there is to be found in every moment of our days on earth. I am talking about every ounce of beauty and wonder that we can see, hear, smell, touch, or even imagine.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and the best beholders have finely tuned senses to spot it. There is a lot of beauty in this crazy world. Really, it is art. Art is something you regard as beautiful and beauty is what brings pleasure to our lives. It reminds of a creator that put his creativity in all of us.
You don’t have to rush to the nearest art gallery to find beauty. We are surrounded by it.
I find it in my great grandson’s giggles, a well-told story, a sunset over the Gulf of Mexico, and an answered prayer. I find it in music that makes me forget about everything else and sing along with utter abandon. I find it in a new culture whose ways I just discovered, or in being able to create something of my own that brings me, and perhaps someone else some pleasure.
Beauty reminds us of God and the human potential for creativity and good. It inspires us to think that even we might be able to make something that brings others some bit of joy.
I didn’t use to see much beauty, now things move me deeply all the time. I enjoy life more. I see God at work all over and in strange places, because there is no place strange to God.
Beauty and art are faith-affirming, fulfilling, and inspiring.
Go find some.
Good article Glenn.