All the Beauty
In a class I’m currently taking, the questions were posed: What inspires you visually? Where do you most often look when you’re on a walk? Up or down? Do you see the tiny seed pod or the vast mountain landscape?
I’ve been thinking about this - where I most often find inspiration for my writing and art. I take a walk every day after lunch, just around my backyard, Dune at my heels. Sometimes I look up at the clouds or the trees against a bright blue sky. But I mostly look down, often bringing what I find inside.
A few days ago, I found a small, smooth pebble among a scattering of tiny rocks in a bare, dusty patch near our fence and I wondered, why have I not noticed these before? My mind immediately began working on both a new Simple Note and a drawing.
I realize that I can always find beauty, up or down, if I’m willing to look.
What about you?
Our world is so fast-paced and results-driven that we hardly have time to take a leisurely autumn walk or slowly savor a juicy peach or tend a garden seedling. But God, the Master Creator, always has time for beauty. He is the Creator of all beauty - from nothing He has created all that is in the natural world.
He didn’t have to. He could have skipped the painted beauty of a sunrise or the steady sound of ocean waves or the sweet goodness of a banana.
But He didn’t.
He has made everything beautiful in its time. ~Ecc. 3:11 NIV
Sparkling gemstones and cool spring rain. Strutting peacocks and meandering creeks. The down of a chick and the intricacies of a snowflake. He made these things beautiful because He loves beauty. He is beauty.
So why would I waste the everyday gift of beauty that is all around me? Why would I choose lesser distractions over admiring a brilliant rainbow or pausing at the sweet singing of a meadowlark?
I want to be a better “noticer”.
How about you?
Today, take a short walk or eat your lunch beside a window and notice all the beauty He’s made around you - what you can see, hear, smell, taste, touch. These are His gifts to you and me, at no cost save the time to notice.
Who knows what we might discover on this very day?