Sometimes I forget how important beauty is. I'm not talking about being physically beautiful, although that could be included, I guess. I'm talking about the beauty that is in creation, in nature, in a good moment with your kids, an intimate time with your spouse, the beauty in friendships and laughter and good food. It's the beauty that quiets your mind, warms your heart and gives you hope.
And I've forgotten how much God loves beauty, how he lives in it and desires it for us.
For so long now it seems my life has been about problems - my problems, the kids' problems, my friends' problems, the church's problems. There's always some problem and a question about how to solve it, what to say, what to do about it, how to handle it. There is prayer and trying to seek God's will in handling the problem.
There will always be problems. And there will always be beauty.
It seems you can focus on only one at a time. If you are focusing on the beauty in life, focusing on truth and goodness and rightness, then the problems become little bumps in the road along the way. If you are focusing on the problems, the beauty seems blurred as you rush past it with the singular goal of solving the problem.
I'm tired, so tired of solving problems. I can't do it anyway. I can't fix anything except maybe dinner. So really, living life for the purpose of solving problems, though sometimes necessary, seems fruitless in the end. But living a life seeking beauty - in people, in relationships, in all of life, well, it just seems that eventually you'll find it.
Paul writes: "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." Phil 4:8.
I think it's time to switch my focus.
