beautiful things

beauty is something we all appreciate whether we realize it or not. it is in a shiny new muscle car, in a stack of books set just-so on the shelf, in the precise majesty of a Blue Angels performance, in the coordination of a suit and tie, in the academic aesthetics of architecture, in the rhythm of a cookie-cutter top-40 hit, and even in the order and logic of a computer program. we surround ourselves with it even though we perhaps don't realize it. beauty is the why we take extra time to create beyond what is functional or practical, and concentrate on what is pleasing. despite its uselessness, beauty is a gazillion-dollar industry because of its great power. yet it is still free to anyone.

i am certain that most people see their lives as normal or typical or bland, and don't see most things as full of wonder or beauty or amazement. i am just as guilty of this as anyone else. but lately i have been so easily impressed that my life seems so much fuller. please bear with me because i know i sound like a hippie or like your general fluffy weirdo. but this is very real to me. :)

we forget that the sky is different every single day...or that the dreary little crowds of sparrows might be the most joyous creatures we come across all week...or that we walk quickly, distractedly, every day, through a masterpiece of architecture and design...or of the miracle of healthy, tasty, plentiful food growing in the ground...or exactly how amazing it is to have a friend, or more than one friend even, who appreciates and accepts you as you are...or even that the bodies we inhabit -- our very selves, down to the core of what makes us human -- are made in the image of God himself.

and what more, exactly, could we ask for? life really is full of wonder and beauty. stop and think of the multitude of blessings God has placed in your life. almost everything is a gift just waiting to be noticed...put here, already, for our amazement and fulfilment. the gifts are far too many to count because so many of them are simple and childlike. and it is not silly to see the world through the eyes of a child. it is far more wonderful. once we get used to being alive, and used to life and people and problems, we forget that there is beauty in all kinds of people, weather, circumstances, relationships, terrain, and problems.

perhaps our expectations are simply too high. it's much too difficult to impress us anymore. sure, we might loftily appreciate the works of great artists or spend a lifetime traveling to the grandest places on earth. but the real treats are for everyone. no admission can be charged and no gas or plane tickets are needed to see them.