Calibrating to Beauty

Last Thursday morning I came down from the mountains after nine days of beholding fresh landscapes, ascending new heights, and breathing in the comforting paradox of nature's simple complexity.

Photo credit: William Hayes

Beautiful things happen within me when I'm in these places.

The hardened wax around my heart, formed by anxiety, cynicism and selfishness begins to crack, then melt, and finally shake off its residual grip that keeps my person from wholeness.

Photo credit: William Hayes

The pupils of my mind's eye dilate as my body and soul attempt to absorb the infinite beauty flowing, growing, soaring, rising and forming in every direction.

Photo credit: William Hayes

I settle into rejuvenating rhythms of co-travelers' footsteps,

Photo credit: William Hayes

the ebb and flow of speech and silence,

Photo credit: William Hayes

and the timely patterns of the sun and the moon.

Photo credit: William Hayes

Photo credit: William Hayes

I inhabit this space and no other. In this habitation my heart finds its center. As my soul both rests and awakens I remember why I write. I suddenly wonder why I stopped writing for so long; why I found it so difficult to put pen to paper. But in this place, in a place where my spirit calms and soars, I remember that writing is my response to beauty.

Worship is easy when beauty is near.

And then a peculiar thing happens. My experience of beauty does not abandon me when I descend to the foothills, the plains, and the even lower ground of Central PA. Rather my beauty-filled eyes are renewed and this renewed sight follows me back home. Sitting in my favorite park, my eyes discover new vitality in familiar rivers, trees, sidewalks, and friends.

I am reminded of my first unchaperoned visit to an art museum. It was the first time I was free to spend as long as I wanted wandering the great halls designed for displaying beauty. As I drove west out of Philly and past Boathouse Row, the sky seemed new to me. The skyline in my rearview mirror was stunning. The trees, exquisite!

Photo credit: William Hayes

Photo credit: William Hayes

Photo credit: William Hayes

It is amazing what we see when we calibrate our eyes to beauty.

So here I am, returned from my summer travels, thankful for the opportunity to be renewed and inspired. Yet also struck by how quickly our wonder fades. Left on our own, our eyes grow dim. How desperately I need the Holy Spirit who gives new mercies and renewed wonder with each sunrise!

"For we have sinned and grown old and our Father is younger than we." -GKC

Photo credit: William Hayes

Where do you see beauty?