...in the eye of the beholder

According to an online dictionary, beauty is defined as "the quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind, whether arising from sensory manifestations (as shape, colour, sound, etc.), a meaningful design or pattern, or something else (as a personality in which high spiritual qualities are manifest)".

But what does that mean? As a person who has spent much (professional) time dedicated to making other people 'more beautiful' this is something that I've often thought about: how can something be beautiful to one person - and mean virtually nothing to someone else?

With the onset of another year at Credo we have already begun thinking about and planning for our major Easter conference - and this year, the topic for the long weekend is "Creation". Along with some others, I've been doing some summer reading on the subject - mostly in a book by David Wilkinson "The Message of Creation". I liked it when he says that "God is an artist who creates on a vast canvas with huge brushstrokes. He celebrates diversity, making a Universe that communicates His greatness, joy and generosity." For me it gives a depth to understanding that different people will find different things to be beautiful because God has created us with the ability to choose what we enjoy.

And yet it feels as though that isn't enough. I feel as though there should be more to it than that. That somehow, there is a greater richness to what God defines and understands beauty to be - but here on earth we just can't quite get it past the tips of our tongues.

The other day i walked around my home, esp my garden, to find things that were interesting to me. Here's one...


...I thought it was beautiful. But that could just be me.