“Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither labor nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothes himself like one of these.”
Luke 12:27 – NASB
Where have you found delight in your life? Do you notice things that bring you joy or in which you find beauty? In the past week, I have heard the word “notice” a lot. What do you notice? What draws you in? When walking with toddlers and holding chubby hands, they notice tiny ants on the sidewalk we can hardly see. When I’m walking with the dog, she finds the grossest smell and tries to roll in it! It might seem gross to me, but she loves it.
I have a close friend who is a ‘noticer.’ She points out things of beauty I might never see. The way a house is finished on its edges, the color of a specific type of rosemary plant (the leaves, not the flowers), or the banana peel we saw in almost the same spot every day for weeks on end. I believe she notices because that’s who she is – and she has an eye for art and design, which is her work – and who she is.
We are all drawn to something or someone; we are called to notice because of beauty, just the right timing, or repetition. In some ways, all these are “beauty” – they call us to look deeper at who we are and what our Creator is trying to say. The more we notice and pay attention, the better we may reflect on this calling of the Creator, the message we need to hear.
I experienced beauty yesterday in the expression of love for a pastor for his congregation. They have supported and loved him in a way he needed that love; in a particular time, he most needed that love. And he said this over Zoom with such heartfelt expression that there was no denying how he felt. He was deeply loved and cared for and surrounded with protection by these disciples and servants. We find beauty when we notice, when we reflect.
Read from our friend Kate Bowler, then go find what delights you and simply be delighted by its beauty.
In her book Have a Beautiful, Terrible Day!, Kate Bowler reflects on “noticing beauty.”
It’s not every day that you see it,
but sometimes beauty sneaks up on you
with a tenderness, a sweetness, so lovely
it hurts.It sings to the heart
and makes it glad
that ever a baby laughed
or a parent smiled
at the hilarious solemnity of play.Beauty brings a kind of grief.
Because its perfection rings so true
it calls out everything else
that has ever fallen short.
In me. In us. In everything.But that’s the thing.
It’s just the way of it:
that beautify will always be
crushingly lovely.
We are grass. We are fireflies.
We are the day that the Lord has made.
Thanks be to God for creating a beautiful world in which we may delight.