Living on this earth, I feel there are so many beautiful things we fail to see or even imagine. I sometimes wonder how much beauty we can truly perceive and live by with our narrow and limited vision. Without making special trips or wandering far in search of beauty, we can discover that our surroundings are already filled with it—because we are endowed with the capacity to see beauty and are ourselves God’s perfect creation, made to live beautifully.

I love poets, musicians, painters, and all who strive to create such works. With their trained intellect and sharp senses, the pearl-like words, melodies, and images that flow from their fingertips open to us hidden truths and another world of sacred silence. Behind their all-night struggles to bring beauty into being lies the decisive choice to do so. Without the effort to free ourselves from the static things that hold us in place each day, even seeing or feeling beauty becomes nearly impossible.

In early spring, I see God’s personal touch and the beauty of His love in the proud posture of new shoots pushing through the lingering snow, in the peace of birds resting with beaks tucked beneath their wings on swaying branches, in the unhurried dripping of icicles melting in the sun, in the exquisite silver frost etched overnight on the window, and in the strawberry vines from last year that, even in the snow, keep stretching out without losing their green. I see it also in the pure laughter of children, the diligent and humble fragrance of mothers, the whistling of fathers, the prayers of those who, even in bodily busyness, bend the knees of the heart toward the unseen God, the courage of those who do not hesitate before life’s depths, and the lonely struggle of those who seek the highest beauty with relentless solitude. In them, beauty already burns like a brilliant flame.

Goethe, in his poem The Most Beautiful Thing in the World, says:

The most joyful and noble thing in this world
is to have a work worthy of devoting your whole life to.
The most pitiable thing is to be without culture as a human being.
The ugliest thing is to envy another person’s life.
The loneliest thing is to have nothing to do.
The most honorable thing is to serve others without ever expecting reward.
The most beautiful thing is to have love for all things.

The only way for us to see and feel beauty is to love life with all our heart and strength. Those who are weary of spirit, or who do not truly love life, will always have a limited view of the beautiful world. God is beautiful. Within Him are poetry, painting, music, and literature. Because the perfection of beauty is in Him, an unending creativity toward beauty is alive within us as well.

So today, let our lives—not pitiful, ugly, or lonely—be joyful, noble, and honorable, filled with love for all things. Even if our days sometimes lead us over weary and steep paths, we must never forget this truth: God is love, and we are His children. In this very moment, I am simply thankful that we breathe within the wholeness of His beauty.