Learning to Find Beauty

 The other day Emma saw a man walking down the side of the road. He was obviously homeless or struggling, the sort of person most of us generally fail to notice at all. 

"Mommy," she said. "I see a man. By the road." 

"Oh yea?" I replied. 

And with all the love and compassion that a 2-year-old can muster she said from the back seat, 

"Yes. He's beautiful." 

_____________

In graduate school I used to go to the Norton Simon art museum and sit for a while in front of one of my favorite paintings. They had a wonderful collection of Monet, Van Gogh, and Renoir, but this one was by an artist I didn't know. It depicted a vagrant, or a homeless man, with some rotten fruit. 

It was beautiful. 

The painter had taken something that is so often looked over and made it into a masterpiece. I bought a print and hung it in my office for a long time to remind myself to find beauty in the things and people that many only see as problematic or unfixable. I still love this painting and think of it often. 

___________

This week, as I've contemplated my situation, Emma and a painter from long ago have reminded me of something. 

It is so easy to see only the pain and ugliness of a situation. I get bogged down in how frustrated I am with how I look, with the pain of treatment and blood draws, and  the sadness of the people in my cancer center. I look at the overall landscape of my situation and want to avert my eyes or cry out in disgust. And then I am reminded that even in the most difficult of things, there can be so much beauty. Hidden beneath the dirt and grime is the heart of the thing: when everything is stripped away, we see humanity in its rawest and most beautiful form. 

We all have our hard things. We all have our sorrows. We all have our pain. But I challenge you, as I challenge myself daily, to find the beauty. Maybe it is in the autumn leaves still falling, swirling through the air like tiny dancers. Maybe it is in the beauty of people's generosity, kindness, and prayers. Maybe the beauty is that we simply aren't dead yet and we can continue to breathe in and out and spread goodness into a broken world. 

Whatever it is, I hope that we don't get distracted by the darkness, but instead find beauty in the still existing light. 




Comments

  1. AnonymousNovember 8, 2024 at 6:52 PM

    Meredith, thank you for that reminder! Sometimes life moves so fast that we forget to pause and appreciate the beauty of God’s creations around us. I really needed that. 💕⭐️

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousNovember 8, 2024 at 7:16 PM

    You have a talent, you are blessed and you are a blessing to many!

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousNovember 10, 2024 at 7:09 PM

    Meredith, you have great insight! God bless you as you continue treatments.

    ReplyDelete

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