Beauty

Have you ever looked at something and thought that it was beautiful, only to see someone else observe the same thing and think is was just okay? Like... why does one guy look at a girl and think that she is gorgeous and another guy see her and think she is "just okay"? Have you ever seen a sunset and thought it was beautiful, or stood on top of a mountain and thought this view is beautiful? or the beach, or an open field on a clear night? Have you ever wondered what makes something beautiful and something else, just okay? You have heard of the phrase beauty is in the eye of the beholder right? What about someone who is blind? How do they perceive beauty? If beauty is just in the eye of the beholder then someone who is blind would never be able to experience beauty. What a tragedy...
So I was thinking about beauty the other day and wondering what makes something beautiful. It seems that beauty has to be more than just what is seen. Maybe the sound of the birds chirping on a spring morning, the smell of herbs from the herb garden in the evening, the taste of fresh strawberry's in the summer, the feel of warm beach sand beneath your feet, the sound of a mountain stream, the smell of chimney smoke in the Fall, the way a snow flake feels when it lands on your face. I could go on but you get the point. True beauty is experienced by all of your physical senses. When your physical senses perceive something that resonates with your soul you experience true beauty. When that place in your soul is attracted to or longs to be near, what your senses take in, you experience beauty.
This is how we can say that even though the cross of Christ was gruesome and horrific, it was also at the same time beautiful. The display of love, the compassion for a lost thief, the strength it took to stay on the cross. These are things that resonate with us. So beauty is not just in the eye of the beholder, true beauty is perceived by the soul - by the heart of a person. You think something is beautiful when your eyes (or any of your other four) senses experience something your heart already knows.
Find something that is beautiful today and take in the full experience...