Weekly Newsletter: Recognize Beauty

     There is beauty all around us. But, there is also beauty within us. The beauty in creation is easy to behold. Even in the cold days of winter, we see beauty in the ice and snow. But, looking deeper, we also find it in the barrenness of a long, cold winter—if we choose to open our hearts to it.
     Inner beauty is more difficult for many people to recognize. Some religions even tend to discourage us from seeing ourselves as beautiful lest we become conceited and self-absorbed. But, in all of creation, I know of nothing more beautiful than a human being made in the image of The Divine. We have the ability to see, hear, touch, feel, think, love and be loved. We have the ability to reason, change our minds, and make others smile with just a touch or a hug.
     We are beautifully complex creatures that are worthy of our own love and admiration. We are just exactly as The Divine created us—beautiful, lovely, full of potential, and worth. Recognize your beauty and celebrate.
     As we recognize our own beauty, we might want to extend that recognition to everyone we meet, because everyone has enormous amounts of beauty within them. Sometimes our blindness prevents us from seeing what the heart knows is real. Sometimes we allow the words we hear to taint our vision, but the beauty is still there like gems waiting to be unearthed. If we fail to see our own beauty, it becomes difficult to see the beauty in others. If we fail to see the beauty in others, it also becomes difficult to see the beauty within ourselves.
     At times it only takes a simple act of kindness to reveal beauty. A smile, a touch, a listening ear, or a helping hand can soften a person’s shell and allow us to glimpse the pearls of beauty they guard from others. Beauty speaks to beauty, and grace speaks to grace. By sharing our inner beauty we receive beauty in return.
     There are times when our attempts to extend beauty and grace appear to be rebuffed, but nothing returns to us void. Beauty reflects, echoes, and shadows us with our every attempt. The people who rebuff our kindness have yet to recognize the child of The Divine within themselves. Our grace softens their shell. In time, they will discover there is nothing to fear—from us, or from others.