Beauty

 Honor and majesty are before Him, strength and  beauty are in His sanctuary. –Psalm 96:6

 

I don’t know much about my grandmothers–they were both dead before I was born–but I know they both valued beauty.

Mom’s mom knew the German art of scherenschnitte–intricate paper cutting–and so her cupboards were lined with newspaper that had decorative cut-out overhangs.  My dad’s mom crocheted, except on Sundays.  (My mom found that out one sabbath when she asked Grandma to show her a certain crochet stitch and her mother-in-law refused.)

So an old newspaper?  Some yards of yarn or string?  In the hands of my grandmothers, they became works of art.  In their hard worlds of isolation and drudgery, they still valued beauty enough to take time and energy to invest in creating it.

I knew a lady when I was very young who had very little money, but she was one of the most creative people I’ve ever known.  She would take  old clothes apart, saving even the thread, and create quilts.  I can still see her pulling bread out of her wood-fired cast iron oven.  No modern bakery could ever hope to compete with that bread.  Her house was blue, I think, but the eaves were multi-colored.  I’m not sure if she intended it to look like that or if she ran out of the blue paint, but it sure was easy to find her house.

I’ve also had the misfortune of meeting people who live in isolation who live in utter squalor.  I wonder how they can survive in such conditions.  At one house, visitors were advised never to remove their shoes because the pigs (literal pigs, as in large hogs) would run off with footwear.  My dad can attest to the accuracy of that statement.

We hear much these days about the world coming to an end.  Some people store food, water and other essentials in preparation.  I offer no opinion on this subject, but I wonder if people understand how important beauty is going to be if the cataclysmic events happen that people are predicting.  Humans need to be reminded on a regular basis of beauty whether it is the beauty of a smile, a sunrise, an innocent animal, a flower, a song.  We need to escape even if it’s just for a moment to a place of intrinsic goodness, gentleness and peace.

During my years of living in isolation, I turned to growing flowers, to raising animals of all kinds, to learning to play the piano.  I found all these hobbies gave me joy.  My favorite flowers had a way of knowing to bloom on my birthday.  Pets  brought me so much comfort.  Music would transport me to a place where my heart didn’t hurt.

I was helping  to raise a troubled teen boy once.  His parents had felt they had run out of options in their home and so he lived with me and my family a few months.  I remember bringing a vase of lilacs to the table before a meal.  “What’s those for?” he asked.  “You can’t eat ’em.”  We all had a good laugh, but I hope maybe the “Beauty is important” lesson is something he remembers I tried to teach.

So I urge you to create beauty around you.  Of course beauty is subjective and you need to take into account the other people who live in your environment, but if something makes your heart sing, it’s likely going to positively affect others.  So take that extra effort and make your world beautiful in your own unique way.