As I look out into the world, I see so much to be grateful for.
Surrounded by beauty, I am left in no doubt that we live in a spirit
filled world that is becoming more authentic in the beauty that it is
able to appreciate. For so long we have come to define beauty on a
superficial level, but as we grow, so will our ability to appreciate
beauty grow within us.
With this, understand that only can we
recognize and appreciate what is truly beautiful when we have unified
with the essence of our own beauty within ourselves. So many struggle to
find the beauty in the world when they look outside. Fearful of what
they will encounter, they see a world filled with anger, hostility and
ugliness, and because this is what they see, this is what becomes real
for them, and they continue to live as their self fulfilling prophecy
would have it be.
Neglecting their own beauty, they have swallowed
a nightmare pill which alters dramatically the world in which they see.
Turning away from the spirit, they have chosen to embrace the ego,
which sees things always in a distorted light. With power and strength
to gain for itself, the ego is devoted not to searching for beauty, but
to finding that which can build it up in the eyes of the world.
Concerned with the physical world and pleasing those within it, it is
not at all interested in the wisdom of the spirit.
Not wanting to
be the protagonist in its own demise, the ego has a vested interest in
keeping the true source of beauty from your eyes. Not wanting you to
experience the awe that beauty inspires, it seeks to keep you in a state
of boredom where you ask no questions of life. Asking no questions, you
cease to interact with life, and you deprive yourself of the answers
that God wants to give to you. This is what it means to be reactive to
life, and to suffer in the process.
Called to be proactive, we do
not grow in our experience of life, if we have closed ourselves off to
what it seeks to teach us. Wanting to show us the beauty in the world
and in ourselves, it is a willing teacher, but a teacher has no role to
occupy without a student in attendance. This is why we must be
open-minded in beauty's presence. With much to give, there is much to
learn about the beauty of God which manifests itself in all things.
It
is said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. What this means to
me is that each of us has the capacity to find beauty in different
things. What some label beautiful, others might label ugly, and vice
versa. But does it really matter what verdict is passed on whether
something is pleasing to the eye or not? What matters absolutely is the
seed of beauty to be found in all things that God has created. With the
beauty of the creator pervading each of his creations, that beauty is
definitely there to see. The question then becomes what is the quality
of the vision of the observer?
Many are capable of seeing the
beauty in all that surrounds them, but even more are not. Selective in
what they ascribe the label 'beautiful' to, these people have chosen to
honour the mind above the heart, which is all to discriminating. Seeing
more than the mind is capable of seeing, the heart knows that it is
futile to judge, because it realizes that judgment passed on that which
appears in a diminished light is falsely condemned. Seeing only a
portion of the whole, much is misunderstood; and embracing only a part,
much is rejected as irrelevant. See in this, the dangerous game that we
play when we choose to have the ego's eyes be the filter with which we
view the world.
Seeing only fragments of beauty that it has
contaminated through its own judgment, much is discarded, and even less
honoured, for God cannot be seen by that which despises his presence.
Wanting you not to see him, the ego will lead you to label as ugly, much
that is beautiful in appearance and substance.
Intense in its
loathing, the ego is not always rational in its judgment, and even in
its certainty, it misses much to be appreciated. See in this how the
ego's arrogance often leads it to abandon that which could otherwise
serve it. Cursed in its blindness, it makes not for wise counsel to the
one who searches for a deeper experience of life.
Wanting to
experience love, one must consult the heart, being the centre of beauty
inside the self. Being not separate from God, it is the gift that God
has given us to enjoy the world. Blessed with much, we can find much joy
when we look upon the world with spiritual eyes. Hindered not by that
which are the ego's shortcomings, we can see the love behind the
barriers, and the distinctions which make the miraculous commonplace.
Blessed
in spirit, we must not take for granted that which is capable of
teaching us who we truly are. Endowed with wisdom, all of God's
creations are capable teachers, and assuming not a separate identity
from him, they are models to be emulated. With this, learn that beauty
is distorted as the separation is affected. So as you travel far from
him, so will your ability to experience beauty diminish in strength.
Concerned
primarily with attaching labels in the moment, what eludes you is the
beauty inherent in entering the moment. To enter the moment, is to join
with God in your heart, and see what he sees in the physical world. With
all that he created being good, you are then able to see the love that
pervades everything in the light of the spirit. Appreciating everything
just as it is, you understand that it is enough and that the ego does
not have to be invited to enhance what is complete in itself.
Complete,
the gifts of God are holy in what they hold and what they deliver.
Endowed with beauty, they bring to the lost man, much that is
invaluable. Longing for God, those who are lost, suffer in their
desperation. Convinced of their own ugliness, the memories of their
eternal beauty slip into the past. But the past is not lost forever, for
every illusion stands to be corrected, and as a partner with eternity,
it will not fail to reveal itself in a touch that the moment has in
store, for the child who sees clearly now, not yearning for more.
One
of the most memorable times that I recall beauty touching me deeply was
in Florence when I went to see Michelangelo's David. I had heard from
many people how wonderful this classical piece of sculpture was, but
hearing a second hand account doesn't really prepare you for the effect
that it has on the soul, when you see it in person. To say that I was
taken aback by its beauty would be an understatement. I was left
absolutely speechless! To think that one man saw this masterpiece in
that block of marble and saw it as his purpose to bring it to life for
all to enjoy is awe inspiring to me.
But as I was standing there,
just gazing up at the masterwork, I knew not the distraction of thought
that attempted to persuade my mind to intellectualize how the work was
brought to life. This allowed me to centre myself and let the profound
beauty that emanated from the shiny white surface, move my spirit
powerfully in the moment. And as I just allowed the moment to touch me, I
felt for a moment just how Michelangelo must have felt with the chisel
in his hand and the spirit in his heart, for as I am not alone with my
pen, he was not alone with his tools, for with every incision had God's
hand revealed itself so gently and lovingly.
All in all, I spent
about an hour in the company of David, listening only to the silence
which was my teacher. And as I meditated on what had greeted my senses, I
felt a deep sense of appreciation begin to emerge, and as my eyes began
to well up with tears, my constant companion placated my fears that I
would miss something, a moment, which taught me who I am, not alone in
war, but beautiful and fair.
To know Michelangelo must have been
to be in the company of a great lover. Here was a man who made it his
life's purpose to serve the world by making manifest in physical form,
the love that he carried inside. How else can you explain it? To look
into the eyes of David is to know without a shadow of a doubt that he
was conceived in love, and because it was this love that filled
Michelangelo's heart, the conception was inevitable.
With this,
understand that love never leaves beauty unexpressed, for that is not
love's way. And in the same way that love will never leave beauty
unexpressed, so will it never leave the witnesses to that beauty
untouched, for the heart that was inspired to bring the beauty to life,
is in no way separate from the heart of the witness who has seen in that
beauty a clear image of themself revealed.
See in this, how all
embodiments of beauty carry a reflection that is not one dimensional. If
you were to observe a rose, you would be moved by the beauty of that
rose, but what has moved you is not limited to the petals, stem and
thorns which make up that rose. What you receive from that rose is an
experience of the beauty of nature which is in no way separate from all
that the rose is, because nature is the essence of its being. And as it
is with the rose, so it is with you, because nature is the very essence
of who you are. As God has breathed life into the rose, so has God
breathed life into you, and in it you get a glimpse of not only its
glory, but your glory as well, which is a stranger not to the glory of
God.
Endowed with all that is beautiful, do not doubt what is
yours to give, and as you awake from your slumber, so will your brothers
and sisters enjoy a more peaceful rest. Not tormented by their hideous
nightmares, a new joy will emerge in the form of a dream that is not
isolated in how it comes to bless them. As beauty multiplies, so does
its visions, in the mind that has unified itself with the heart.
Filled
with this love, joy replaces sorrow and gratitude replaces judgment,
for as the Lord has spoken, you need not open your mouth to speak.
Speaking in glorious tongues, you are left in no doubt that what he has
to say is real. Beautiful in its composition, it is undeniably powerful
in its resonance. Teaching your heart, the mind finds rest, subsumed by
the grace that has cradled it, and when it awakes, immense beauty awaits
it, in both its relationship to the physical and the infinite which
know no divide. Being what beauty has conquered, love has done its work,
through the eye of the spirit that cannot be blinded to the world's
worth.
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