I suppose if we are going to talk about beauty for 31 days, perhaps we should define it. But how do we? I would imagine that if we asked 100 people we would receive 100 different definitions, giving weight to the old adage “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”.
Our hearts are all impacted differently. What moves you deep to your core, may not move me. What is pleasing to my eye, may not draw you in.
But while in many ways beauty is individual, there is also a commonality to it. There are natural wonders that even the hardest of hearts acknowledges as beautiful. Does it surprise you I picked a sunrise to be the image for defining beauty? Most likely, no. It is something we easily connect with beauty.
Culture typically defines beauty in aesthetic terms. But the philosophers of old knew it was not only that. For thousands of years they have wrestled with taming beauty,attempting to understand its ways of making our souls tender.
Our experience affirms that truth. We often talk of an action being beautiful. Do you remember the 2006 Amish school shooting? The forgiveness and reconciliation on the part of the Amish community was unheard of. Around the world people were astonished at their response. When the media covered the story, the word beautiful was often quoted. Even when we don’t understand the motives, our souls know when something is beautiful.
Recently my husband said these words in a sermon:
“Beauty responds to evil with goodness and holiness.”
The words stayed with me. The original body of Christ responding to the evil of death on a cross, with goodness and holiness. Our current day body of Christ responding to evil with goodness and holiness.
When the world sees this, it makes us stand up and take notice. The unexpected. It is beauty in one of its purest, fullest forms.
Beauty- That which stirs my soul beyond what it can comprehend. A sunrise. Forgiveness. Putting someone else first. Knowing good will triumph over evil. Laughter and tears. Lumps in throats. Extravagant grace. Kindness. Light that breaks through when darkness thinks it has won.
This may not appear in a dictionary, but for now, it is my working definition of beauty. Let’s see how it changes over these 31 days.
What would you add in your definition of beauty?
I am participating in The Nester’s 31 Days of Series. Click right here to see all the amazing topics! I am writing on 31 Beauty Full Days. You can read the intro post here. And you can also always click on the button on the sidebar to see all posts in the series.
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