There is Beauty All Around

Guest post
by Suzann Darnall

My soul is in need of a celebration of life this day. So, I am going to forgo politics and woes for this week’s presentation and instead share some lovely things I’ve seen over the past weeks that remind me there is so much good in the world, even amidst the sorrows and strife that all too often abound.

At the top of my recent happiness list has to be the memory of our little three year old granddaughter, Reese, dancing at her birthday party. Just doing a lil happy dance, all alone, ‘cause I had given her a piece of chocolate. Most of our grandchildren love chocolate. But, my lil Miss Reese may be well be the most chocoholic among them. And, she especially loves to share “chotlit” with MawMaw (AKA: me). A bonus of happiness was given on this occasion since I was with my husband, both our daughters, six of our grandchildren, our two sons-in-law, and a dear friend.

These past three weekends I was blessed to see my dear husband, Pete, go off to help with Hurricane Harvey cleanup projects in Houston. Last weekend our daughter, Amanda, and her daughter, Lorelle, also went to help. It does my heart good to know that I am part of a family that cares about others. That my sweet husband has passed on his belief in service to our children and grandchildren.

I know walls being ripped out and grubby work-clothes may seem an odd sign of beauty, but it is the vision of the service they represent that makes my heart sing, It is so wonderful to see stories of people coast to coast stepping up to help those suffering from devastation due to fire-n-flood. God bless America in this time of need. As well as our neighbors who are suffering from their own disasters.

Last night I got double-dosed with beauty! First we went to dinner and the symphony with our daughter, Amanda, and her husband, Ray. The music was such a treat for the ears and the soul. Then, I got to see the pictures of our oldest granddaughter, Logan, as she was all dressed up for her first homecoming dance. What a delight to the eyes! She is quite a lovely young lady. Cute all the time, but a bit of a knockout when all primped and prettied.

I live in Texas. Texas: where the seasons are made up and the calendar don’t matter. So, we are currently having a bit of Springtime in the midst of Indian Summer. I have so many trees and flowers blooming that I cannot possibly list them all. Many are summer or fall bloomers, but some are spring bloomers, which makes it a lil bit over-the-top in the color array right now. It has been a real joy to go outside and see the rainbow of blossoms on display. Especially since they are against a lush backdrop of green due to some extra rain during what is often a dry part of year for us.
There really is beauty all around, if we just take the time to look, listen, laugh, and love. To count the blessings we are given each and every day. To appreciate the people in our lives. Stop for just a few minutes each day to think about what you have seen or heard that made your day a little brighter. Take a moment to tell someone how they enrich your life. We should drink in the beauty of our lives and we should share that beauty with others. Life truly is a gift from God. Don’t waste it just focusing on the ugliness. Find the joy and pass it along!

Sayanara,
Suzann
http://www.suziezoo.com
http://www.woolymammoth.org

Some people just can't win for losing!

A young woman who spends hours and hours and hours grooming her hair, eyelashes, lips, and eyebrows complains that men don't notice what an interesting person she is inside her beautiful body.

Where is beauty?

Ann Voskamp writes at A Holy Experience,

...Look at the bent woman ahead of us in the check-out, her gnarled and arthritic hand counting out the potatoes she’ll bake tonight for the old man leaning against the cart. That is the quietest reality that hushes all the media voices: We need more women who would rather be beautifully sacrificial than perfectly artificial.

Don’t let Hollywood define it; let the pages of Truth define it: Romance is a long sacrifice.

Say that quiet to yourself at the mirror, over the stove, over the toilet bowls, and let your soul feel the caress of God who knows: Romance is a long sacrifice.

And then it will happen to you, like it happens to all the women who are soul beautiful and loved:

For a beautiful countenance — count blessings.
For beautiful lips — only speak words that make souls stronger.
To carry yourself with poise — carry each other’s burden.
For the most beautiful shape — simply live with one hand receiving all as gift, and other hand giving away the gifts. You becoming the shape of a gift —
Becoming the shape of a Cross.

Go ahead, Girl, run your hands wild through your hair and smile unashamed and be at peace in the fullness of you and pour your beauty out like an alabaster perfume:

Beauty doesn’t live in your skin

Beauty lives in the lining of your heart.

Read more here.

People who live their lives in alignment with truth, beauty and goodness...and who raise children to do the same

Robert Godwin writes,

A long time ago -- well, ten years ago, to be precise -- I decided to conduct an experiment in childrearing, whereby I would teach the boy to love the good rather than, say, just punish the bad and make him fear the punishment.

...How to bring about a robust goodness? That's the question.

...I marvel at what a good person my son is. What I mean is, I see evidence of his spontaneous goodness all the time. He is a much better person than I was at 10. I was by no means a bad person, but if I'm really honest, part of this was because I was simply afraid to be bad. That's what I mean about temptation. I might have been worse if I weren't such a coward.

Part of me admired the naughty boys, but my son isn't like that at all. Rather, he strikes me as "courageously good." He would be willing to be mocked for his goodness, whereas I would have been much more likely to cave under peer pressure. In contrast, he is irked and repelled by jerks and pseudo-rebels. There's no attraction at all.

So far, anyway. For two years running he's won the "people of faith" award -- whatever that is -- in his school by simply doing what comes spontaneously. He is not remotely repressed. To the contrary, full of life.

...Here again, there is nothing negative, repressive, or punitive in this. Rather, it starts with loving truth, and who doesn't want to be in love? And when one is in love, certain behaviors follow spontaneously.

Godwin loves an author named Schuon, and he quotes from Schuon's book entitled Echoes of Perennial Wisdom:

The humble man is attached to virtue as such, and consequently to the sentiment that all virtue comes from God and belongs to God."

Which is why "At the bottom of all the vices is found pride..." Therefore, at the bottom of the virtues must be humility. Pride cometh before afall, humility before arise.

Another good one: "Every man loves to live in light and in fresh air; no one loves to be enclosed in a gloomy, airless tower. It is thus that one ought to love the virtues; and it is thus that one ought to hate the vices."

And "If we want truth to live in us, we must live in it."

Nothing good in man is of any value if detached from God. Likewise, love of man is monstrous if not a prolongation and consequence of the love of God. God save us from the lovers of humanity!

[W]ithout a good character -- one that is normal and consequently noble -- intelligence, even if metaphysical, is largely ineffective.

So, Let the world be what it is and take refuge in Truth, Peace, and Beauty, wherein is neither doubt nor any blemish.

Read more here.