The Beauty of the View

I read a friend's blog a while back. She had a picture posted on her blog of a beautiful view from a window of a castle [somewhere in Germany]. Although I had no idea what the castle looked like, her picture of the view inspired me.

I love photography. I'm not a photographer though. I own only a point and shoot camera (which I love and am very grateful--don't get me wrong). Even still, I love photography. I would love to take some classes and own an awesome DSLR with some awesome lenses. I would love to learn how to take incredible pictures and not just get "lucky" with some of the ones I take. Anyway.

I was analyzing the picture. Studying it closely. Looking at the picture as if I were the very one looking out the window. I loved how she framed the view with the window from inside the castle. The view was spectacular. Lush, green grass. Tall, thick trees. A lake with water that looks like frosted glass. A town that seems so tiny from the distance and elevation of the castle. Another castle, buttercream yellow, across the valley, slightly up in the mountains. Mountains lavishly covered in trees so thick you can hardly see where one tree ends and another begins. Sparse clouds drifting through the hollows of the mountains. Darker, cottony clouds fill part of the sky and the sun tries to shine through the haze. Random patches of snow left over from the winter storms speckle the rocky mountains. I wish I could have been there. It looks so beautiful and serene.

This line really annoys me: "Beauty is not what's on the outside; it what's on the inside." I wonder how many people really believe that. It seems that we are all judged on our beauty (or the lack thereof). We are bombarded with beauty products, claims to make us look younger, prettier, skinnier, taller, thinner. Have perfect hair, flawless skin. Wear make-up to bring out our natural beauty, clothes for our body type. Skinny jeans, hip jeans. Spaghetti straps, no straps. What? The people you see on TV, in movies, on stage, in pictures, photos and paintings are typically what the world call beautiful people. And the ones that aren't consider beautiful are made fun of, laughed at, ignored, judged, put down, discarded, thought less of and so on and so forth.

Young girls, older girls, women of all ages, young guys and older guys too, are faced with so much pressure to be the best, do the best, have the best, look the best. All of this is about the outside.

Let's move on to the inside. [Disclaimer: I am not necessarily against any of the following. I am simply using these as examples.] Self-help books, videos and seminars. Classes and Bible study groups. Counseling and group therapy. Prescription drugs to make us "feel" better. Pep talks and pep rallies. Inspirational conferences and retreats. We use these things--and more--to "better" ourselves, to learn who we really are, to become (or try to become) who God created us to be. That's great and all. But is there something more?

I have no picture of a beautiful view like the one I described (I thought about copying the image, but I didn't want to "steal" her picture). I'll let you paint your own picture in your mind. What I saw in the picture, though, was the view.

Beauty is not what's on the outside. It's not what's on the inside either. Beauty IS in the eye of the Beholder. The One who created each of His children sees them as more beautiful than the most spectacular view (which He created). The One who gives us eyes to see also gives us a heart to see. Beauty is so much more than we can think or imagine. Beauty is how we see, not necessarily what we see. I pray I can see beauty in everything. I pray I can see people like God sees His people. I'm not talking about wearing rose-colored glasses. I'm talking about having the eyes of Jesus. I'm talking about seeing the beauty of the view.

Because of His love...