Beauty Offers Rest

Are you drawn to beautiful things? I am. I didn't always think it was okay to admit it, but I always have been.

I like the cute shoes, I like elegantly cut dresses, I like flowers, I like butterfly wings. I like a clean kitchen counter, an open floor, a subtle tablecloth, the wild bunnies in the yard. (I could go on.  No, really, I could—the surface of a lake, blue dragonflies, hair colors and textures, the grain in wood—but I don't need to.) All of these things express a certain beauty to me. Now, often you may hear me use the word "cute," as it is one of my favorite words for describing most anything that is small or fuzzy (or small and fuzzy), but "cute" doesn't have to mean "I like it but it's just not to the level of beautiful."

Dictionary.com describes "beautiful" as "having qualities that give great pleasure or satisfaction to see, hear, think about, etc.; delighting the senses or mind." That covers a rather broad spectrum, don't you think? I'd like to add this to my understanding of beauty: Something that is beautiful offers rest.

It may seem like an odd claim, but I believe it's important. Think about it. What's your favorite type of landscape? Maybe an ocean view with a clean beach in a brilliant sunset, maybe a forest in mist, maybe a desert with scant shrubs and cacti and a growing rainstorm on the horizon. Maybe something else entirely.  Imagine it. It's okay, take a moment and think about a location that takes your breath away. Maybe you've been there in person or maybe you've only dreamed it. See it in your mind; smell it; hear it. Does it give you something? Does it quiet your thoughts, soothe your spirit, calm your emotions?

It's beautiful, isn't it?

When I'm out under a vast sky that sits over me like an over-sized bowl I simultaneously feel small and big. I feel like I could drink in the blue air forever and never taste it all. I feel like I could stretch my arm and pluck a cloud from its invisible perch. I could stay there forever sitting in beauty, simple elegant beauty. I could examine the shades of the sky; I could watch the clouds floating away. I could breathe deeply and not worry. I'm given the opportunity to slow down (stop and smell the roses?) and not direct my focus on my to-do list or past failures or even future wishes. I could allow myself to rest right there in that moment.

There's a reason for that. It's rather simple, too. When I am surrounded by the sky, when I am both small and big, I understand, in a way, the presence of God. He is there. He created this particular scene in this particular moment. He designed every detail as an artist labors over a painting. Yet, His art constantly changes without losing any craftsmanship or appeal.

God made beauty. And He didn't make just one kind of beauty. Did He stop with just one kind of stunning landscape?

It can be easy to miss. We have many things to accomplish. Families like to eat, clothes must be washed (maybe it can go one more day), school and work assignments must be met, friends want to get together, bills should be timely, and so forth. And while all of those things can be good (please don't claim that I'm saying not to take care of these things), we shouldn't lose sight of what a moment of beauty offers. We should remember the grand value of beauty, and remember that opportunities to rest in its gift can be anywhere.

Beauty can be found in week-long, out-of-town vacations. It can be found in our daily routine. It can be hidden and uncovered like treasure. It can be displayed for the world to see. It can be shared through laughter or ingrained in our hearts with honest tears. It is in the big and grandiose, the little and average, and the inbetween.

Beauty is everywhere because God is everywhere. And God offers rest through His gift of beauty.

Uluwehi, not Invisible

I would rather be invisible.

Invisibility is safe. No one watching, no one judging. No one impressed, no one disappointed. Invisibility can be lonely, but loneliness hurts less than abandonment. Invisibility doesn't require taking risk. I don't have to put myself out there for others to see if I'm invisible. I don't have to show vulnerability to others if I'm invisible. If I'm invisible, who would see to help?

But I'm not invisible. The Invisible One sees me when no one else does. And He thinks I'm kinda pretty beautiful.

I don't know that I have that much to say. I don't know that my thoughts, my words will benefit any of you. But I do know I live for a God Who created beauty as a blessing, and He made woman in His image to uniquely reflect the beauty of His character. His daughters, princesses all, need to know their beauty. They need to know that it comes from and has grand value through Him.

This has been on my heart lately. I don't know how long I'll write about this, and I can only speak from my own experience, so I will be plenty limited. But I think my sisters need to be encouraged. Not encouraged to put on more makeup, buy the right blouse, or shine that smile when you'd rather cry, but encouraged to be real and to realize the reality of your own beauty. It is there. You may not believe it, but it is.

For a long time I didn't believe I had beauty. Oh, sure, sometimes I thought I looked a little pretty or I felt pretty (often I felt prettier than I thought I looked, go figure that one out for me). But most of the time, pretty wasn't something to be or aspire to. Yet I am, though even now I have a hard time believing it. But it's important that I do, not to glorify myself but to magnify the One Who gave me my beauty.

And when I do believe it, I want to hide it because hiding it is safer. Hiding it diverts attention away from me and that saves me and others from the disappointment of not having beauty and the danger of indeed possessing beauty. Beauty draws others to it. This is both natural and good, but I fear the risk that comes with all good things in this fallen world. I fear the perversion of beauty; I fear beauty being used in a destructive manner, whether intentionally or not. I fear my own beauty being used so.

I would rather be invisible. But beauty is needed to be seen.

So I hope to pursue what it means to grow in beauty. Uluwehi.