beauty

Wow.

I just got back from a week of vacation...most of which I spent outdoors in some capacity. I canoed and camped on Lake Santeelah in North Carolina and hiked through Joyce Kilmer National Forest, with the huge virgin timber relatively untouched by man. Then, I ventured out to Colorado, where I went rock-climbing in Clear Creek Canyon and hiked to the top of a fourteener, Gray's peak, where snow still graces the peaks in mid-July, and at the summit you have an incredible view that stretches for miles (and would probably stretch even further, were it not for the veil of smog from nearby cities). It was, in a very limited word, glorious.

And it reminded me...we are surrounded by beauty. Breath-taking, awe-inspiring, magnificent beauty. And it isn't just found in the clear lakes of North Carolina or the mountains of Colorado...it is everywhere. But, we take it for granted...we pass by beauty everyday, too often distracted or trapped in a fog of our own making to notice.

But whether or not we appreciate it, it is there. A gift. An unnecessary gift from a benevolent creator. Open your eyes and breathe in. Don't wait for a vacation to seek it out.

Behold beauty.