Beauty

Beauty has a way of capturing the heart like nothing else.  In Oklahoma, we are blessed with beautiful sunsets.  I’m not sure of the conditions that make it so; some say it’s the dust.  Yet I’ve never been anywhere else where such beautiful hues of pink, orange, yellow and red fill the late afternoon sky as day gives way to night.

I’m held captive by beauty for a few fading moments many times throughout the year.  Such moments can be transformative or quickly forgotten in the rush of evening activity.  Beauty must be held.  If we dare to behold it, we are the better for it and our lives enriched by the beauty we behold.

Eugene Peterson wrote “beauty is not an add-on, not an extra, not a frill.  Beauty is fundamental.  Beauty is not what we indulge ourselves in after we have taken care of the serious business of making a living, or getting saved, or winning the lottery.”  I have found this to be true.

Recently I stumbled upon the Latin phrase sine qua non which means an essential thing or something that is necessary.  Beauty is sine qua non.  Peterson also wrote that the Hebrew word tob can be translated as both “beautiful” and “good.” Which brings me to today.

Today is a day of celebrating beauty and goodness.  Today is a day of recognizing the beauty and goodness in my life and acknowledging my gratitude to the Father for such gifts.  Today is Carrie’s birthday.  She is beauty and goodness and she certainly is sine qua non in our family.

Carrie, I love you with all my heart and wish you the happiest of birthdays!