August 16: DISCOVERING THE BEAUTIFUL

A few years back, Fay and I bought a place that had not received a lot of care. The grass was out of control. Around the fences there were lots of briars, weeds, poison oak and poison ivy. We attacked it with enthusiasm but it was a slow process. It was such tedious work to finally get it all clean. But you know what; after all of that patient effort we uncovered beautiful roses and flowers of many kinds. Beauty waiting to be released! Beauty that had been crushed and almost killed by garbage and wild vines. We finally won over it and began to enjoy the fruits of our sweat and toil.
Life is so much like an overgrown yard! There is much beauty daily but some days you have to dig it out and let it blossom.
The media, for instance, inundates us with so much gloom and doom. We can’t deny it or ignore the fact of death and pain and sadness in the world. To keep a balanced view, we need to release the lovely things.
It reminds me of the parables Jesus told about the pearl hidden in the field; when the man discovered it, he sold everything he had and bought the field just to possess this beauty. (Matthew 13:44) He discovered beauty and dug deep to possess it. Or, “again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found on of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.” (verses 45-46) He was intent on finding the beautiful.
The point is this: the beautiful is there. God has made it so. It may be covered by sin and sadness, but it is there. We should not resign ourselves to putting up with the ugly when with a little discipline, we can find the beautiful difference.
In Philippians 4:8, the Bible says, “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable; if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things.”
Discover the beautiful. Don’t settle for ugliness.

Help me, O God of Beauty, to discover the beauty of your world so I
Surround my life with it; I know it will reach into my soul. Amen”