Give Beauty a Chance
Someone recently paid me a compliment that meant a lot to me. After posting some pictures from an area I had not been to before this person said, “You find beauty wherever you go.” I’m not sure this is totally true but I do confess that it is something I strive for. I choose to look for beauty. Now I realize that what one views as beautiful is highly subjective. Rob Sheppard and I were photographing in the eastern Sierras a few years ago and we both had a chance to take close up images of a rattlesnake. Using a telephoto lens I focused tightly on the snakes scales and was amazed at just how beautiful they were. When I showed the image to others later on some were repulsed; they saw no beauty at all because all they could see was a poisonous reptile that they happened to detest and be afraid of. Interestingly, I’ve had similar responses when I have shown or posted images taken in winter. If there is ice or snow in the picture some automatically dismiss the beauty that might be found there simply because they strongly dislike the cold that is associated with snow and ice.
Once again I understand that not everyone will agree on what is beautiful but I do feel that most people can and should strive to expand their perimeters of beauty. Years ago John Lennon famously sang “Give Peace a Chance.” Today I feel like uttering the cry “Give Beauty a Chance.” We all need beauty; it is one of the things that makes life worth living. Beauty makes us feel better. It is also good for the soul since in most cases beauty promotes a sense of gratitude or thanksgiving.
Another reason I think beauty is important is we tend to not only admire but be willing to work for the protection or preservation of that which we find beautiful. This is true in numerous areas but I am most familiar with the realm of nature. If people had not found certain species of birds, animals, trees or flowers beautiful many of these would have become extinct by now. Whole areas have been set aside as state or national parks primarily because large groups of people considered them beautiful. Perhaps other species or places will be preserved and protected in the future if more people will only expand their vision and give beauty a chance.
In the end I find beauty to be something spiritual and closely connected to God. God is the Creator of beauty and is beautiful in and of Himself. A number of contemporary praise songs have recognized this and include words like “You are beautiful beyond description.” Long ago the Psalmist prayed, “One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.” (Ps. 27:4) The Psalmist found God to be beautiful, especially when he visited the temple. I, too, find God to be beautiful, especially when I visit the larger temple of Creation.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 says God “has made everything beautiful in its time.” I believe this to be true and that is one of the main reasons why I look for beauty wherever I go. I believe that I can experience God in beauty. I believe you can as well. For that reason I ask everyone, “give beauty a chance.”
–Chuck
(I took the top image on Friday at Henderson Sloughs WMA, the middle image at the Buttermilk Mountains in California, and the bottom image yesterday evening during my first visit to Bluegrass FWA in southern Indiana.)