Make Beauty, Not Money (or Mucus)

 

I’ve been meaning to write quite a lot lately, but the gnome  is illin’ and I’ve discovered that when my husband gets really sick, I get really busy.  So life’s been crazy with my chores, his chores, sick chores like doctor’s visits, soup making, and cough medicine purchasing.  Things have been hectic. 

It is cold and gray outside.  And I think that approximately a trillion folks in my area are sick this week, so I thought I’d take a brief moment to pause and pay tribute to beauty because we need some around here.

So first:

— This is one of my favorite poems/quotes.  I used to keep it posted on my wall.  I think it is a beautiful comment on how the stuff of earth (and, for our purposes, food) can either point us toward  the More and toward worship or can dwindle into mere consumption.  I find both in my own life and this poem reminds me to seek the former.

Earth’s crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God.
But only those who see take off their shoes.
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.
  -Elizabeth Barrett Browning

And Second:

— My friend Josh is a great guy and an burgeoning photographer.  He is a card-carrying Anglican and his sacramental theology shows in his work.  He takes the mundane and, through it, somehow shows us the transcendent.  I really like this picture he took of a classmate of ours.  Check out his work.

Have a beautiful day. (Even if it is gray and raining and you’re sick.)
 

Tags: Beauty, consumption, food, poetry