Beauty

Beauty.  I was thinking about this yesterday.  Work had been rather stressful, but Mondays I have a prep period the last hour of the day.  A lot of times I use it as an opportunity to release some tension, work on vocabulary for different classes, do research, pray, and just take a break from my student.  So I was stressed and tense yesterday.  It had been a long day.  So I did what I do when I get stressed: I wrote Scripture and truth in my journal that I keep at school for specifically that purpose.  That's relaxing in and of itself, but there's something that brought even more relaxation.  Beauty.

I took my markers that I carry around with me and traced the words.  It was colorful. And it was beautiful. And the tension melted away.

God created beauty.  He delights in it.  Just look at the world around you.  The flowers. The colors.  The rainbows.  The people. 

It's hard to be tense when you're surrounded by beauty.  It's why people spend vacations in beautiful settings.  It's why I color and write with colored markers and pens.  It's why rainbows make me happy and fresh flowers (that I'm not allergic to) make me smile.

Beauty relaxes.  Beauty invites.  Beauty draws.  Beauty brings peace.