Getting stuck in our grief robs us of seeing the beauty in today. It’s like it has gone from being a colorful world to a dreary black-and-white. But that beautiful world is still there — if you and I will just look for it!
As a 13-year-old girl, Anne Frank knew the terrors of Nazis occupation and oppression, but listen to what else she knew: “I’ve found that there is always some beauty left — in nature, sunshine, freedom, in yourself; these can all help you.”
So, where’s the beauty around you today? Maybe you need to dust off that camera or put on your traveling shoes and go find it! Maybe you’ll find it in the face of a little child. Maybe you will rediscover the beauty in making a new friend or doing something nice for an old one.
Some people, places and things will just always be beautiful. Ruskin Bond said, “And when all the wars are over, a butterfly will still be beautiful.” That about says it all. We need to commit that phrase to memory and repeat it often.
Mary Oliver said, “And that is just the point… how the world, moist and beautiful calls to each of us to make a new and serious response. That’s the big question, the one the world throws at you every morning. ‘Here you are, alive. Would you like to make a comment?’”
Each minute of every day is a call to respond to the opportunities of a moment in time never lived before. Each and every minute of every day we have a choice to make: to continue to sleep through life or wake up and get involved; to curse the darkness or light a candle; to ask the question “What am I going to do with the rest of this beautiful day God has given me?”
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Many eyes go through the meadow, but few see the flowers in it.” The meadow represents life, just like a huge 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle that cannot be looked at in its entirety until you have put it together one piece at a time. So, are you seeing the flowers in the meadow?
All people and cultures have developed some picture of a hereafter. We want to imagine our loved ones somewhere beautiful. I can’t help but believe that our early departed ones want us to be somewhere beautiful as well! In the time and circumstance we have there is beauty waiting to be seen. Let’s find it.
Doug Greenway
These blog articles are written by the retired minister and former educator and counselor, Doug Greenway. He'd love to hear from you with your comments, questions, or suggestions for future topics. You may reach Doug at doug_greenway@yahoo.com.