Lent, Week 2, Day 1: Where Beauty Dwells
- Donna
- Mar 16
- 3 min read
Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful;
for beauty is God's handwriting — a wayside sacrament.
Welcome it in every fair face, in every fair sky, in every fair flower,
and thank God for it as a cup of blessing.
~ by Ralph Waldo Emerson
The Subtle Embrace of Every Moment
In his book "Beauty,: The Invisible Embrace" John O'Donohue writes,
"Beauty dwells at the heart of life. If we can free ourselves from our robot-like habits of predictability, repetition, and function, we begin to walk differently on the earth. We come to dwell more in the truth of beauty...
Beauty is the secret sound of the deepest there-ness of things. To recognize and celebrate beauty is to recognize the ultimate sacredness of experience, to glimpse the subtle embrace of every moment, of every being."
Beauty dwells in our presence and awareness in each moment - and even more - John O'Donohue encourages us to "glimpse the subtle embrace" of every moment." How might we do that?
The word "embrace" suggests holding each moment close to us. Wrapping our arms around it as we would a beloved partner, child or friend - held so close we can feel the other's heartbeat against our own. O'Donohue takes it even further by suggesting that in our beholding of beauty, we, too, are embraced by the Divine. As Emerson writes above, "beauty is God's handwriting -- a wayside sacrament." I love the phrase: "a wayside sacrament." It reminds me that each moment can be a numinous, sacred encounter.
We so often rush by the moments in our life, in a hurry to get to the next moment, and the next... or we are so accustomed to what is around us, we do not notice the particular "there-ness" of what is right in front of us.
Artists and writers need this type of seeing and embracing in order to express what is most true in their work. Georgia O'Keefe wrote, "Nobody sees a flower really; it is so small. We haven't time, and to see takes time - like to have a friend takes time." This is one reason she gives for painting flowers so large. She literally forces the observer to pay attention.
Poet Mary Oliver writes about paying attention as a "doorway" to prayer and hearing the Divine speak.
Praying by Mary Oliver (Thirst)
It doesn't have to be
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones:
just pay attention, then patch
a few words together and don't try
to make them elaborate, this isn't
a contest but the doorway
into thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak.
Song: All Things Bright and Beautiful (John Rutter, Cambridge Singers, London Sinfonia)
Reflection:
When and where are you more able to feel the sacred embrace?
What might make it hard to hold things close? What makes you hesitate or fear?
Where have you experienced beauty as "God's handwriting" or a "wayside sacrament."
Spiritual Practice:
Consider a Lenten practice of keeping a record of where beauty dwells in your life -- the glimpses of the "Sacred Embrace" (or "God's handwriting") that you notice as you go through each day of Lent. This could be in another person, in nature, or in music or art. The places of encounter are limitless.
Resources:
John O'Donohue, Beauty, The Invisible Embrace. Harper Perennial, 2004.
Mary Oliver, "Praying," Thirst: Poems. Beacon Press, 2006.
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