Beauty in it's Purest sense...

Dear family & friends,

I sit here at the dining table, waiting for dinner to be ready. And I have finally taken the time to write my next entry. It has been a quite delayed entry, I just really couldn't find the time to write. I have though, "written" my entry in my mind. I would find myself thinking of the things I would say in the blog.

My entry will take us back to October 2-5, 2009, to one of my favorite places in the world, Gaming in lower Austria. I try to get-away from the city life during weekends and go to a peaceful place. And that is what Gaming offers, it is my peaceful weekend get-away. I will never tire from bragging about Gaming, it just is really a perfect place to experience God, His beauty in creation and His beauty in the people He created.

This weekend in Gaming, I spent Saturday early afternoon accompanying Vince and one of the Franciscan students for a hospital trip. Many of the Franciscan students have been falling ill these past weeks and Vince has made numerous trips to the hospital in the next larger town, Scheibbs. So this trip was I believe, his 6th or 7th of that week. And by the nth number of trips to the hospital, the nurse at the reception already knew Vince :-)

Just to side track, the hospital was nice. All the staff we encountered there were really nice and accommodating. They all spoke English, which was great for a sick student who already felt like crap.

Anyway, my blog is not really about the hospital trip, rather it is about the trip from the hospital back to Gaming. Vince was driving, the student was quiet in the back seat, and me, Cay, in the front passenger seat. What I like doing when driving towards Gaming or from Gaming, basically the time between Scheibbs and Gaming (15mins), I try to enjoy the beauty of God's creation. And on that Saturday afternoon sitting in the front passenger seat with quiet car mates, I was doing that very thing, laying my eyes on God's trees, mountains and skies. I allowed my eyes get lost in the beauty of nature, and thus my thoughts too. I sat there, gazing into the vast greenery, and said to myself, "These mountains are beautiful. The sky looks heavenly. And look at those beautiful, healthy, green trees. Gosh, they have grown to be so beautiful!"

That very thought led me to the next one, "There is no "gardener", who looks after these trees. They simply grow on their own, no one in charge of watering them, trimming them, etc."

Then I thought, "These trees don't have to worry about looking good. They don't need to add something to them in order for them to be beautiful. They don't even worry about what they should eat, or what they should do for the day. And still, they are so wonderful to eyes of man!"

After deducting all this, I began to think, "Why then do we humans worry so much? We worry about what we will eat, how much money we will have, what to wear so we look good. Basically we worry about this and that... and the worrying never ends.

My dear family and friends, we have a heavenly Father who cares for us. He will never abandon us. Look at the mountains, they just look majestic without them having to make themselves look majestic. Our Father allows them to be amazingly beautiful. His creation can be beautiful in its purest sense... no artificial substances, make-up, fashionable clothes, no need for them to change themselves to be accepted... they can just BE beautiful! It is the loving Father who makes all things beautiful!

Our business in this world is to make ourselves, our hearts, souls and minds beautiful for the Lord. If that is our goal then be assured, you will be taken cared of and you will radiate beauty in its purest sense. The beauty that God laid into your very heart will be the one radiating from your soul. And it will be the beauty that cannot be made beautiful through the worldly ways, but it is simply BEAUTIFUL, because it springs from the The most beautiful among us... OUR GOD!