True Beauty Part One

It’s amazing how the smallest things can trigger a meditation on some deep aspect of life. For example, yesterday was a beautiful sunny day in my city. I took a long, leisurely walk to the library, which is just over a mile from my house. I was walking through an odd part of town.

See, the library is just off a really, really busy road. I don’t like to walk along that road though, so I take a short cut along a smaller road that’s closed to traffic, but pedestrians are allowed. It runs parallel to the really busy road. But separating this smaller road and the busy street is a large field (I think they’re planning to develop it, but not yet).

So here is this large grassy field right in the middle of a busy part of the town. 

I was walking along this little street with this wide grassy field on my right. On my left was a row of tall evergreens rimming the edge of several fenced backyards, with their tops outlined against a bright blue sky, with a few wispy white clouds floating lazily along. Periwinkles were blooming, practically covering the ground, with the occasional sunny flash of a dandelion’s yellow blossom. 

The sun beamed down upon our world and a breeze played with my hair. The only sounds to be heard were the singing of birds and the faint roar of the cars racing past on the other side of the field.

Suddenly I was startled by a shriek high above my head. I stopped and stared at the sky, trying to see what it was that disrupted my peaceful moments. Then I saw it – a hawk! 

Brown and black and gray, it soared just above the evergreens. So close it seemed I could almost see the individual feathers. It hovered for a wonderful moment, frozen in time, scarcely moving, it and I.

Then it was gone.

But I remained, wondering how such a simple thing could touch me so much. What is it about a blue sky, a simple flower, a sunset, a rain drop, a bird that can stop us in our tracks, just like that? It’s beautiful. But what makes it beautiful?

What is beauty?

 to be continued...