Calling Out Beauty

This was originally posted on May 17, 2016 on a now defunct blog called Exploring Sainthood.  I was reminded of it when I read my friend's post today titled "Seeing the Good, Speaking the Harm". Please take the time to read her post.  It is what the world needs more of right now.

Our world is a difficult place to be at this point in time.  We are living in a world of amazing growth and beauty. We are living in a world of extremely damaging actions of individuals and broken systems.  

It is both at the same time.  

As a people, we cannot deny that the pain exists and just focus on the good. If we do that nothing ever changes.  As a people, we cannot just call out all the injustices and fail to see what is working well.  Noticing what works helps us to shape our vision of a better future.

We need people that see the good and that bring it to our attention.
We need people that show us how we are broken.
And we need people, like me, who are called to live in the tension that exists between these two worlds.

So, here is a post from a couple of years ago about a deliberate choice I made to see beauty even in this messy world.

Calling Out Beauty

Tulips are my favorite flowers, but for too many of the last several years, I’ve been too busy or preoccupied to stop and really look at them. I found myself almost in mourning when I could no longer catch that glimpse of them from my car.

Two and a half weeks ago, knowing that I had two major events coming up and a million stressors to deal with that week, I decided to take 5 minutes every day to find and look at tulips. I was not going to miss another year of tulips. I declared my intent on Facebook, and then I felt like I had to prove that had I followed through, so I started posting photos.

My tulip week ended, but by then I was hooked, and several friends were liking or commenting on my pictures. I decided to keep up with the project. At first I just took pictures of other flowers. Then rocks, wood chips, moss, and even what some people would call garbage made their way into the beauty that I experienced and shared.

This morning, I glanced out the window and saw a puddle of water in the road, evidence of all of yesterday’s rain. In that puddle was the most stunning reflection of a tree. I wanted to add it to the pictures I’ll post today, but my windows were dirty and my camera (an iPhone 3, don’t laugh) doesn’t have zoom capability. I thought of going outside to take the picture, but the change in perspective would have meant that from right next to the puddle I would see a different reflection. So I stood there for awhile, just taking it in.

There are so many times when I want to capture the beauty of a moment to save it for later, but find my camera, any camera really, incapable of seeing everything I see in the way that I see it. But sometimes the opposite happens too. Sometimes the camera captures beauty that I didn’t see when I was standing right there. Or sometimes, the flaws in the way the camera perceives the light create something even more beautiful.

In what has become one of my favorite photos, I was trying to take a picture of a flaming red bush. When I got home and looked closer, I saw the bare tree and the beautiful shadows it was creating on the sidewalk.

And here, I was trying to capture what really was a breath-taking winter morning. This is not what I saw, but it shows a kind of beauty that I couldn’t see.

Are you looking for beauty?

Are you looking for beauty in unexpected places?

In what ways does the beauty of the earth help you experience divine love?

(There was a YouTube video here, and it didn't copy when I saved this post.  I'm not sure if this is what I had here originally, but it fits.)

When I think about beauty, I’m reminded of these three stories.

Omid Safi was invited to Salt Lake City and experienced both bigotry and beauty.  He had this to say about his experience:

I would show you the images from the vandalized posters, but that’s precisely the point. I don’t want to. I don’t want to give them the attention they so desperately crave, but do not deserve. Why shine the spotlight on the hate?

I want to shine a light on the good and beautiful. I want to talk about the good and beautiful people I came across in my journeys in Utah…I want to shine a light on the thousand people who came to the talks, and brought their own light, and insisted that together we are stronger, more beautiful, and more whole. I want to shine a light, instead of giving a spotlight to those who would curse the darkness. 

So, friends, let us stand next to one another, shoulder to shoulder, mirroring the good and the beautiful. Shine a light on the good. Applaud the good. Become an advocate of the good and the beautiful. Let us hang on to the faith that ultimately light overcomes darkness, and love conquers hate. It is the only thing that ever has, ever will, and does today.

At Buddha in the Beehive, this author talked about the beauty that came out of an experience that was very painful for many people.

I want the history books to include this detail: When this policy was leaked to the public, my Facebook feed was filled with good people, mostly Mormons, letting the gay community know their phones would be on all night, that they could call, could reach out, in case any of them were thinking of taking their own lives.

Fahim Rahim is a Muslim living in Southeastern Idaho, a place that more often makes the news for bigotry than it does for love.

Today I stand up not as a Muslim defending Muslims, but I stand up as a local resident of this beautiful community in defense of many of my friends who have given so much for humanity and unity. I stand up for my friends who are Christians, Protestants, Catholics , Followers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Jews, Buddhists, atheists & Hindus. I stand up for my neighbors who have knocked on my door at night to make sure my kids are comfortable and safe while I am traveling, I stand up for my nurses who have hugged me every time there has been a bad press about Muslims in the world, I stand up for my friend Dave who born and raised in Pocatello, belongs to LDS religion and I know will be ready to donate me a kidney if I ever needed one, I stand up for my friend Trent who is a local cop and will be willing to put his life in danger in a heart beat to not only protect me out of harms way but any other human regardless of religion or race, I stand up for my patients who have never judged me by my religion or the color of skin but by my work.

Just as I will not let ISIS and Daesh create divide and hatred among us, I will not let few crazy, coward bigots and thieves who left these messages of hate on the cars of my friends and burglarized their homes, bring a bad name to my beautiful community.

Some people told the stories of the hate and the pain. These people told the beautiful stories of love and community.

I found beauty in mud, pebbles, and a dead plant.

I found beauty in garbage in a parking lot.

I am in no way advocating ignoring the problems of the world, but I am encouraging the deep search for beauty in the everyday. We have to call out injustice when we see it. We have to tell our stories and show our scars.  We must speak the pain of those who cannot speak for themselves.

AND…

We must learn to seek out the good and the true and the beautiful even in difficult circumstances.

We must learn to call out beauty.

images by Jeannine Robinett