What's Beautiful?
April 15th 2008 03:22
My kids and I had a discussion today, where we named all the things we could find that were beautiful. We were coming home from the supermarket. I was slightly frazzled. The boys were bored and misbehaving. I thought finding things that were beautiful would help change the mood.
When I suggested it, I envisioned finding maybe five beautiful things on the way home. One hundred was more like it. All through the walk home, all through me preparing lunch, all through us eating lunch and for some time afterwards the conversation continued. I decided that I wouldn’t rubbish any of the things they said. If they thought it was beautiful, then maybe it was. Big trucks. Sure, no problem. If it’s beautiful to you, then it’s beautiful.
It started off with things most people would consider beautiful. Autumn leaves on a tree. Birds flying overhead. By the time we reached our home, it was almost like we were picking at straws. Grass, dirt, rocks. But my kids weren’t picking at straws. I could tell they really did find these things beautiful. In fact, I was starting to find them beautiful too.
The first thing I said when we got home was my pots out the front. They are new and I’m still in love with them. They’re pretty unique and my grandmother hates them, but they are definitely beautiful to me. After we stepped inside, there was pretty much an inventory of all the things in the house. Who knew I had so many beautiful things in the house? I suppose at one point they were as beautiful to me as my new pots are now. But since then, the initial thrill has worn off and they have become simply part of the furniture – literally in some cases.
As we ate lunch, the discussion about beauty got personal. Sitting around the table, what else is a mother to do except say all the beautiful things she finds about her children. I told my boys they had beautiful eyes, ears, mouths, arms, hands – etcera, etcera. Then they repeated the same things to me. I’m not a woman who gets called beautiful very often. Hearing all my features listed and called beautiful in this way was quite a new experience.
When we’d finished with appearances, we moved onto personality traits. I find my eldest son’s compassion beautiful. I find my youngest son’s willingness to share beautiful. I find my eldest son’s sense of humour beautiful. I find my youngest son’s energy beautiful.
We all heard a lot about beautiful we all were today. Just about anything we could think of was mentioned. But God could have done a lot better. He sees everything about us – all our features, everything to do with our appearance, everything to do with our personality – and calls it beautiful. God is the one who appreciates the beauty that the rest of the world misses.
One of the reasons I believe in God is because of beauty. There is so much beauty in the world – beauty we can see, hear, smell, feel. Even those things that don’t seem beautiful at first become beautiful if we look close enough. Whenever I encounter beauty of any kind – be it man-made or natural – I believe that there is a source behind that beauty. And I believe that source is God.
When I suggested it, I envisioned finding maybe five beautiful things on the way home. One hundred was more like it. All through the walk home, all through me preparing lunch, all through us eating lunch and for some time afterwards the conversation continued. I decided that I wouldn’t rubbish any of the things they said. If they thought it was beautiful, then maybe it was. Big trucks. Sure, no problem. If it’s beautiful to you, then it’s beautiful.
It started off with things most people would consider beautiful. Autumn leaves on a tree. Birds flying overhead. By the time we reached our home, it was almost like we were picking at straws. Grass, dirt, rocks. But my kids weren’t picking at straws. I could tell they really did find these things beautiful. In fact, I was starting to find them beautiful too.
The first thing I said when we got home was my pots out the front. They are new and I’m still in love with them. They’re pretty unique and my grandmother hates them, but they are definitely beautiful to me. After we stepped inside, there was pretty much an inventory of all the things in the house. Who knew I had so many beautiful things in the house? I suppose at one point they were as beautiful to me as my new pots are now. But since then, the initial thrill has worn off and they have become simply part of the furniture – literally in some cases.
As we ate lunch, the discussion about beauty got personal. Sitting around the table, what else is a mother to do except say all the beautiful things she finds about her children. I told my boys they had beautiful eyes, ears, mouths, arms, hands – etcera, etcera. Then they repeated the same things to me. I’m not a woman who gets called beautiful very often. Hearing all my features listed and called beautiful in this way was quite a new experience.
When we’d finished with appearances, we moved onto personality traits. I find my eldest son’s compassion beautiful. I find my youngest son’s willingness to share beautiful. I find my eldest son’s sense of humour beautiful. I find my youngest son’s energy beautiful.
We all heard a lot about beautiful we all were today. Just about anything we could think of was mentioned. But God could have done a lot better. He sees everything about us – all our features, everything to do with our appearance, everything to do with our personality – and calls it beautiful. God is the one who appreciates the beauty that the rest of the world misses.
One of the reasons I believe in God is because of beauty. There is so much beauty in the world – beauty we can see, hear, smell, feel. Even those things that don’t seem beautiful at first become beautiful if we look close enough. Whenever I encounter beauty of any kind – be it man-made or natural – I believe that there is a source behind that beauty. And I believe that source is God.
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