I was out on my morning walk today, enjoying the beautiful flowers and trees that make our neighborhood such a pleasant place to live, when I met a white-haired gentleman walking in the other direction. As we passed each other, he groused, “Those trees sure stink!” Sniffing the air I realized he was right. The beautiful trees I was walking by did stink!
As I continued my walk, I thought to myself, “Isn’t that something? All I noticed was the beauty of the trees and flowers, but all that guy noticed was how bad those same trees smelled.”
We live in an imperfect world, with imperfect people (yeah, that includes you and me). Still, in spite of all that is wrong with this world, there is still so much beauty to see and experience. The bright colors of flowers along your path, fluffy white clouds floating through the sky, the song of a meadowlark in a field, the majesty of the stars at night. No wonder the Psalmist declared, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” (Psalm 19:1 NIV)
And beauty is not just limited to nature. There is so much beauty in people too, especially those who’ve given Jesus first place in their hearts. A young person helping his grandmother across the street, a stranger stopping to help someone change a tire, a friend who’s always there to lend a helping hand.
We have a choice to make every day. We can concentrate on all that is ugly in the world around us and make ourselves and others miserable by pointing it out or we can look for the beautiful and good and focus on that. The choice is ours. What we choose will make all the difference in our lives and in the lives of those we meet
Today let’s focus on the beauty around us and at the same time watch for opportunities to add a little beauty to someone else’s life. There’s enough evil in the world without us pointing it out.
Today, let’s enjoy the beauty of the trees and not worry about the smell.
Thanks for the beautiful thoughts!