Day Fifteen: Beauty

Word of the Day: Beauty

Image of the Day: leaf detail

Token of the Day: mini-jigsaw

Beauty and the Beast
who is the judge?
who can really tell?
eye of the beholder - what do you see?
mirror confuses, distorts
we see but opaquely.

True beauty is within us all
and we can see it everywhere
if only we would close
our eyes of judgement and see
with soul of purity
Third Eye knows
All-Seeing Eye cries -
"It is beautiful!"

The mini-jigsaw is of African plains with giraffes, zebras and a male lion plus 2 big birds (?vultures) soaring overhead.

Vast landscape
African plains stretch
Mountains impose
Oceans expand horizons

Veins of a leaf
threads reach across each division
colours bleed, throb, pulse

The more i look
the more i see
the more i see
the deeper within i travel
the deeper i travel
the more beauty i behold.

Psalm 139 is my soul-psalm, first given to me during an Ignatian Retreat in Daily Life back in 1988 when i was studying in St Andrews. As i continue to struggle with concepts of beauty, the physical being that i am, body image and humanity i find this psalm travels with me. Today it was the opening for our Lent study group...

vv13-16

For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.

How difficult and yet necessary it is for me to hold this in my soul. If i believe that God is the creator who made me and i trust that God sees me as the God-self intended me to be then why can i not rejoice in being me?

Perhaps part of the answer to this dilemma comes with the standard definitions of beauty.

Its origins are vulgar Latin bellus, bellitas meaning pretty. We are surrounded by images of beauty as laid down by fashion, politics, media. We might hear other realities, such as so-and-so has such a beautiful spirit, its beauty lies in its simplicity but i don't think we carry these through into our daily lives. Or should i say, if i'm being completely honest, i don't. Or rather, i see beauty in others that has little to do with their superficial appearance. I am attracted by a person's energy, their spirit, what they offer the world, how i relate to them. Yet i continue to be caught in the trap of how i look. I beseech others to see (with inner eyes) their own beauty, to recognise their unique contribution to the world, their gifts but i fail to connect with my own inner sight. As i pondered this a song came into my head:

How could anyone never tell you,
you are anything less than beautiful.
How could anyone never tell you,
you are less than whole.
How could anyone fail to notice,
that your loving is a miracle,
how deeply you're connected to my soul.

I first heard it sung by our Regional Elder, Glenna Shepherd. It is a beautiful song, a song about beauty, and Glenna sung it beautifully...

beauty is
in the eye of the beholder
in the ear of the listener
in the touch of the lover
in the scent of the flower
in the heart of the universe
in the soul of the Sacred
in the taste of Heaven.

beauty is
as beauty does
beauty is
as beauty is
beauty
beau
be
ah...................

Postscript: i had meant to include the following quote. It came back to me in the night. This is the angel Gabriel speaking to Mary as translated by the Message in Luke 1:27 -

Good morning!
You're beautiful with God's beauty!
Beautiful inside and out!
God be with you.