Mark Dohle
Well-Known Member
Beauty is where you find it
(the joy of little things)
A couple of days ago I had the joy of seeing our cloistered turtle. She was in her usual place, where she is looking for some treats from one of the monks. Usually, Br. Michael takes care of her, but this was later than usual. So I went into the refectory (dining area) and got a banana for her. When she saw me coming she starting running (sort of) towards me. So I broke off two good size pieces of the Banana and placed them in front of her. She really loves them. As she was eating, as usual, I become overwhelmed over the beauty of this little creature, who over time now has a relationship, of some sort, with our community. The monks (some of them) look for her as they leave Mass in the morning. Some mornings she is there and it is a good time for us to watch as one of the monks, usually Br. Michael feeds her. We got some turtle food online and she gets some of that with the banana. We do not overfeed her, but just enough to have her come looking for something different. We do not want her dependent on us for her food. In our enclosed cloister garden, there is more than enough food for her. I still wonder why such a little creature, kind of plain actually, is still so incredibly beautiful to me, as well as to others. Whatever her beauty is, it gives me great joy to see her.
I have never been one who can take a great deal of beauty. When in Panama, after I got out of the Navy in 1971, I made a trip with one of the men in the army who worked under my dad. We stayed up in the mountains for two weeks and it was overwhelming for me. No matter where I looked it was postcard-perfect, and after two weeks I was tired out from it all. I enjoyed the time there, but was glad to get back to the low lands of Panama, where the scenery was much less beautiful than higher up.
So as I age I am finding out that I can find great beauty in the smallest of plants and creatures, like our turtle friend. I can look at a plant in my room and find a great deal of joy without having to look away in order to process. The beauty of these simple living things can almost make me ecstatic. It is healing to see them, and I feel a connection. The same goes for rocks as well. I have some in my room that affects me the same way. Just little rocks, of different shapes, but also, like the turtle, very beautiful in ways that elude me, yet they're just the same.
I do think I miss out on a lot because of my lack of ability to be able to absorb splendor on a larger scale, but I am content with what I am capable of. Of course, the deep mystery of those I meet and know and love shows me the most beautiful. Yet, I have to be able to perceive it, and often I have to make a choice to do so. People are much more complex than plants, animals, and rocks, and because of that, it can be a call for me to stretch my soul, mind, and heart so that I can continue to see beauty in others even if they be irritating or incompressible to me.
In beauty, no matter where it is found shows us in some deep manner the truth about the inner life of God. It also shows us our own beauty, which can be more difficult to see, yet there, nonetheless. If we had no deep inner beauty, we would not be able to experience it in the world we live in.
The embrace
God of beauty,
Lord of grace,
Abba of all creation
show us all your beauty,
and embrace You without fear,
for fear is useless,
what is needed is faith.—Br.MD
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