Different Kinds of Beauty

The sun comes out and shines so bright, then disappears again at night. It’s just another ordinary miracle today. –Sarah Mclachlan

"When I picture beauty, I usually think of the ocean, or the streets full of the red and orange leaves of autumn. Beauty is a definite term, and is definitely not applied to this country’s dry fields of grass. Going on a hike with some friends will not be beautiful, but work, and nothing more. In South Africa, being surrounded by mountains, it’s pretty much impossible to get a hike that doesn’t involve walking up steep, winding paths littered with loose rocks. At first, it was exactly that, and I internally berated myself for agreeing to this hike. Then the path leveled out, and suddenly it didn’t seem so exhausting or dizzying. It was late afternoon, and the sun had just started to sink lower in the sky, casting red light over the scenes before us. Although I’d never really appreciated the savannah I saw every day, I could start to see the beauty of it now. I saw so many contrasting scenes - the little purple flowers growing amidst the yellow grass, and the freeway against the mountains. We took pictures of the sable antelope meters away from us, and then turned our cameras to the air show happening above us, the planes flying in perfect formation. I’d never looked at the bushveld in this way, beautiful and teeming with life. It made me realize there are different kinds of beauty in this world, some obvious and some less obvious. All you have to do is open your eyes and look for it in the most dead of places. When I look for the ordinary yet extraordinary miracles of life, I see God’s fingerprints in ever blade of grass I find." - Emma

 

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