Recognizing Beauty

RECOGNIZING BEAUTY

Copyright 2021 Don Ray.  Feel free to print and share.

Homestead creek  07:02

The creek is running!  Barely, but running!  The surface trickle just barely makes it past the wood jam, fizzling out in less than a meter.  There is no sound.  The surface ripples the tiniest bit, making the sky's reflection flicker.  But it's grown from yesterday!...thanks to the remarkable string of daily rains.  Thank You, thank You, thank You for this symbol of the inexorable return of Life in spite of our destructiveness.

As I walked out the back door before sunrise, a coyote concert!  Little family was loud and clear from the south!  Upon reaching coyote point I never saw them though.  Now four mornings since I saw them.  

The mountains had a slow motion cloud fall silently and grayly slipping over ridges from the south, a rare alpine treat.

A couple of bucks in the valley were trying out this year's antlers with each other.

Sublime beauty.  Thank You.  Thank You.  Thank You.

Would anyone read these poor words and experience a touch of that beauty?  Would anyone wish they had been there?

If so, why were more people not up there this morning and every morning?  Why do I not bother describing such scenes to anyone?  Does our limited ability to perceive beauty make beauty boring?  

We prefer adventure and tales with conclusions.  That's a problem if it keeps us from experiencing beauty.  If we cannot perceive the beauty in Nature we cannot discern it in ourselves.  If we cannot recognize loving Creator in Creation we will not recognize our souls as children of that Creator.  The value of Nature's beauty reflects our own value, as we arise from and are integral part of the same Source fulfilling the same Purpose.

A cold indifference toward Nature inevitably is companion to a cold indifference toward humanity.  One either looks for beauty and Spirit in everything or turns from beauty and Spirit in all aspects of life.  

Looking for Beauty does not mean pretending it is there when it is not.  It means having eyes and heart open and receptive to the living Spirit of the Source, especially when it appears in unexpected form.  

Imagine seeing.  Imagine wanting to see.  

Copyright 2021 Don Ray.  Feel free to print and share.