Have you ever been on one of those long drives where the scenery outside your window is so breathtaking that you wish you could pull over and take a picture? It could be the dusty pink and purple sky during a sunset, or the large expanse of pristine blue broken up by white cotton candy clouds. It’s the kind of scene that can make you realize just how small we are in this world. It’s the kind of scene that can strengthen wavering faith. That’s what I mean by rare beauty. It has more to do with the feeling it gives than the aesthetic appeal. Sunsets and sunny days aren’t exactly a rare occurrence, but there are so few things that can evoke those feelings. Beauty should be measured by our hearts, not our eyes. It’s a little cliché, and I guess we already know this, but for some reason it’s so difficult to put into practice. Our flawed and broken humanity sometimes makes it hard for us to fully comprehend beauty.
I’ve battled with my own vanity and superficiality. Something I reflected on last week during my drive home from visiting family in Germantown. Somewhere between Breezewood and Somerset, as I was checking my hair in the rearview mirror, I drove past a group of wind turbines. It’s the same wind farm I’ve driven past 20 or 30 times. But it just gets to me every time. It’s one of those times I wish I could pull over and watch for like an hour. Something about their hypnotic rhythm and their grand stature, and most importantly the purpose they serve. So much of true beauty is rooted in purpose and design. It’s my guess that the most fulfilled individuals are also the most radiant.
Dont get me wrong, visual presence has its place too. Everything plays its part in the grand scheme. Flowers for instance, serve their own unique role, but they are also meant to bring us visual enjoyment. When you understand the original intent of creation, you begin to see the world in a different way. I can’t quite explain why running helps with this view, but it does. Its a combination of sensory stimulation and an intangible but deep and satisfying feeling. The longer you drive, the longer you run, the longer you live, the more chances you have to experience this. Just ask a runner why they’d be crazy enough to brave 12° temperatures to hit their favorite trail.
My thoughts wandered back to my run that morning around the trail near my brother’s house. The wind from the lake made it feel like -12°, but it was well worth going out. Again, this was a course I’ve run dozens of times but somehow there’s always something different to see and always a different way to see it.
Running also serves as a good example of a very simple principle. Every single thing in this world has the potential to be sacredly beautiful or sinfully flawed. I run because of the way it makes me feel on the inside. It is a way to take care of myself, keep my heart healthy, and de-stress. It also teaches me to appreciate discipline. These are all good, beautiful things. But it’s all too easy to get caught in the competitive nature of it. I can become overly concerned with being faster or fitter or stronger than the next person. That can get very ugly, very quickly.
It’s so important to remember this. God’s perfect design has been tainted by sin and here we are all caught up in it. It can be difficult and sometimes not so pretty to look too deeply at things. Lines become blurred and we’re not even sure what to look for. In all our searching for what we think is beautiful, we miss out on true beauty. But there’s the key word- true. We should be true to ourselves, but we should be careful not to be complacent. Be yourself, yes, but be the best version of yourself; always improving. And most importantly, we shouldn’t be concerned with what others view as beautiful. We were all blessed with gifts that we’re meant to share with others and we all have negative traits that we struggle with. It’s good to want to fix these things. There’s beauty in the struggle too. We should embrace the things that make us divinely beautiful and acknowledge those that make us humanly imperfect. It’s when we do this, that we radiate rare beauty.
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