The Discovery Of Beauty

Recently Diana and I went to the Italian Coffee Company for a lazy Sunday afternoon cappuccino and conversation. We talked about our shortcomings, about love without expectations and how to avoid living lives of criticalness, among other things. It was a very surface and shallow conversation.

On the the way out Diana made on off-handed remark about how pretty some flowers were that we were walking past. For some reason in that moment I felt struck with a burst of inspiration. Beauty, art, creation - our lives have been devoid of it for a long time. We have walked in a wilderness of gray and have been beauty starved to the detriment of our souls. I said to Diana, "We need to make it a point to be enjoying beautiful things together."

That led us into conversation on the drive home and to a new way to perceive our world. We realized that when we surround ourselves with beauty and soak it in we give our souls a chance to rise above the mundane, trivial and the gray. Seeing beautiful things lets us consciously and sub-consciously, remind ourselves of Wonder, of Perfection, of Good, of our Creator. And in those moments our souls are being renewed and refreshed as we brush up against the Fountain of Beauty (check out Psalm 27:4).

As we reached home and sat in the driveway we talked about forms that beauty take for us - nature, art, music, photography, poetry. We talked about how barren our lives have been and how we want to take walks to enjoy the autumn colors, a fresh snowfall, and the scenery on our travels.

Then we drove out to the end our our road, got out, and lingered over Mount Popo and the sunset sky. The next day we went to a local nursery to purchase some plants and flowers for our home. But the first few minutes was reserved for a stroll together just to enjoy, to appreciate the colors and to feel the tranquility of the garden. We didn't necessarily think about it, but the touch of the Creator was upon us as we discovered beauty.