July 11, 2012
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An Eye for Beauty?
A couple of weeks ago, I decided to start doing a walk/run in the early mornings. I knew I needed to add more exercise as part of my life, and after a conversation with a friend of mine, who is an avid runner, I felt myself getting motivated to try it again.
The mornings are SO gorgeous right now. Warm, but usually with a hint of a chill. The sun is usually up, but not fully, when I leave the house.
I take along my phone and earphones and I listen to sermons or music or podcasts during my walk/run. (I put the / in between there because I run part of the time and walk when I get too tired!)
Ready to leave one morning…
Anyway, as I would run, I started to look for pretty things to take pictures of. I have my phone with me anyway, so stopping to snap a picture with Instragram doesn’t take too long. I became a hunter of beauty…scouring the ditches for pretty flowers, mostly.
I think that this is a wild morning glory.
There are lots of these bee balms blooming right now.
I’m not sure what kind these are? Maybe someone else knows. But they are a rich yellow color and kind of remind me of a big buttercup.
We have lots and lots of wild raspberries that are ready for picking right now.
There are only so many flowers to photograph and I am not a good photographer by any stretch of the imagination, so I started looking around a little more, beyond the ditches to the trees and the sky.
One morning, it was foggy and the sun was shrouded in fog that it hadn’t yet burned off. As I ran towards it, I was struck by the beauty.
I decided to snap a few pictures and I was totally delighted with the result.
The funny part is, I took these pictures in full color and didn’t make them black and white or sepia. I guess that this is just how the camera captured them in that lighting. (This is part of the dirt road that we live along…where I do my walk/run.)
Just a closer up of the bird house. I thought it looked really beautiful.
This was yesterday morning. That little white speck in the middle of the picture is the remains of the moon that was still visible.
Our dog Stuey waits by the front door for me now and excitedly gets up and heads out with me on my walk. It didn’t take him long to learn my routine. (you can see him up ahead on this picture — Just a brown dot)
A grove of birch trees. I always think that their white trunks are so pretty. Especially when there is a group of them together.
So yesterday I had snapped a few of these pictures and I got to thinking about what defines beauty? I could say that I am a “seeker of beauty” in these walks…that I am looking for pretty things that catch my eye to photograph and share with others.
And that is good.
But who says what is beautiful and what is not?
There is a deeper something at work here. Because don’t we all live our lives that way to a certain extent?
We want to categorize things as beautiful or ugly. Even in nature.
Even in people.
We call things good or bad that God brings into our lives.
We turn ourselves in judgers who decide whether something is beautiful and good or not.
I know that God placed within us that desire for beauty. The appreciation of things that are lovely. So it can’t be a bad thing.
But, like everything else in this world, the devil loves to use things that God placed within us for good to his evil advantage.
If he can distort our love of beauty into us categorizing things are “beautiful” or “ugly” and as “good” or “bad”, even though we know that God is all good and doesn’t bring anything ugly or bad into our lives, then the devil can catch us in the trap of discounting and maybe even resenting any of the so-called ugliness that comes into our lives.
You have a relationship difficulty to work through? Ugly.
A child who is going through a rough time? Bad.
An illness of a loved one? Wrong.
And while I am not saying that any of these things are fun or that we should/would wish these things upon ourselves or anyone else, there is a beauty that comes from these “ashes” if we allow our hearts to be thankful and if we acknowledge God even in difficulties.
I cannot completely describe the span of my thoughts on this. I feel like this is something I am just learning about and that there would be so much more to write if I could get it down in a way that made sense.
It feels a little suffocated inside of me right now and maybe its because I am just trying to process this all myself. It is a big subject.
But I think within it lies a secret that I want to get to the bottom of.
So…I took a couple of pictures of things that I wouldn’t have normally photographed.
Because I would categorize them as more ugly than beautiful.
Shriveled up and dying daisies.
Clover that is mostly dried up and brown.
My shadow in the morning sunlight…in which I look shapeless and somewhat large!
I guess part of my challenge to myself is to take the second glance. To look beneath the surface of what appears to be ugly and see the hand of God in it. To choose to open my mind and my heart. To even be thankful for that which appears to be less than beautiful.
And we’re not just talking about flowers here.
Comments (13)
LOVE that first picture where “the sun is shrouded in mist.” Absolutely breathtaking! Misty morning just do something for my soul – they seem so magical, so much a taste of other-world. Great picture!And your thoughts about beauty… so true how we categorize everything like that, without realizing that sometimes the most ugly in our lives can produce the most beautiful. Definitely easier to talk/write about than live out!!
These are great thoughts, Audrey. And I sort of think the shadow picture goes up in the beautiful ones. Ignore your thoughts about your body, it’s totally a cool picture.
I love this post, appalolly. It’s funny…because I’ve been thinking a lot about the beauty thing lately too. And who tells us what’s beautiful and what’s not. And yeah. So much of it really isn’t God-given, that judging of pretty or ugly. Great photos. Instagram is neat.
good thoughts to ponder… it made me think of the verse “Even though you planned evil against me, God planned good to come out of it. This was to keep many people alive, as he is doing now.” (Genesis 50:20) i also thought of Ecc 3:11a ”He has made everything beautiful in its time.” when looking up that verse, i came across a snippet from a commentary that I need to chew on: “Every thing is as God made it; not as it appears to us. We have the world so much in our hearts, are so taken up with thoughts and cares of worldly things, that we have neither time nor spirit to see God’s hand in them. The world has not only gained possession of the heart, but has formed thoughts against the beauty of God’s works.”
As I read I started humming an old Crystal Lewis song – “He gives beauty for ashes Strength for fear – Gladness for mourning -Peace for despair” The pictures were awesome – almost makes me want to get up early and do my own walk/jog thing again. I really want to get going on this again as well. Thanks for the inspiration.
Great food for thought!! Trying to view others through God’s eyes..uh…I fail so big time. Thinking of patients I take care of as God’s children instead of “that big fat slug”, “waste of good air”, etc. (not that I actually say they are a waste of air, but inside my head…)Loved, loved those pictures. That one sure does look it would have been in sepia.
Loved this post Audrey! Your thoughts on beauty are in line with what I have been thinking about lately. I love what you said about the devil taking the things God placed within us for good and using it for dark purposes. That is so true!I LOVE the pictures you have been taking with your phone! The two pictures of the roads in particular, they draw me in…okay. I’m realizing I said “love” a lot in this comment. It’s annoying but true
funny I had a similar conversation about this earlier today with a friend. It was more about how things that look different always stand out and we notice them more. how if we all looked the same how bad that would be. Love that first fog picture!
oh to see things through God’s eyes – I first began really thinking about how things appear when I started running in the early mornings a few yrs ago sometimes wearing sunglasses which alter the light and dark – through some glasses the sky is a deeper blue, but the sun is less glaring – I’ve been noticing the beauty of old buildings with overgrown weeds and grasses around it – some would not see that as a thing of beauty. Sounds like God is doing a heart work in you
I loooove the scent, sounds of nature and feel of the fresh early morning air! Time for just me and God, talking heart to heart. The road you live on is sooo inviting – looks peaceful and calming.
Run on!
Way to go… You do so well at capturing beauty with a camera…. Ever consider doing photography for income? You’re good at it.
crazy how often i say this with you and i love it.
but i was just talking about, “like everything else in this world, the devil loves to use things that God placed within us for good to his evil advantage,” today with ben. as well as having my own thoughts about how heaven’s windows have opened over me in new ways…directly disputing what the deceiver intended to take me down. i would love to hear more about what feels suffocated inside. your pics are cool! and my fav is the sepia one that isn’t sepia.
this makes me think maybe i need some early morning runs instead of classes at the Y. I think your “beauty” is more refreshing then a bunch of sweaty bodies and loud music
. I need this. i am having a hard time finding beauty these days.
LOVE the two pictures of the sunrise!~