Seeing Beauty

     Beauty is very important to me.  I am not talking about personal beauty.  No, looking more like the ogre version of Mrs. Shrek than the princess (okay, except for the green skin) encourages me to seek beauty outside of myself.  This brings a lot of satisfaction and I consider it my calling in life.
    Is seeing beauty important enough to be a calling?  I believe it is.  When we see the beauty in a landscape, we are loathe to defile it.  We are careful with the resources the landscape provides.  We attempt to be good stewards of our home and others'.  When we see beauty in other people, we acknowledge their gifts and appreciate what they bring to our culture.  This appreciation nullifies prejudice and hatred.  The need for justice is lessened because less injustice exists.  We have a better sense of our place in the world as we are not threatened so much by creatures/people/landscapes as we are nourished by them.
     This is not to suggest that this is my absolute way of being.  Actually, I am irrationally invested in the opinion pages of the papers.  But, I notice that when I appreciate an other's gift; when I see their beauty; it makes me feel more beautiful.  When I am walking in the woods, my whole life is beautiful.  This is what I want to share with others.  This is my calling.