Soul Matters offers UU congregations an opportunity to explore a theme each month. WUUC uses these themes in our Worship services, our small group discussions, and any time we just feel like talking about something other than the weather or the woes of the world. Join in, consider this month’s theme, Nurturing Beauty.
Submitted by Linda Sherry
Nurturing Beauty
What is Beauty saying to you?
Beauty.
We appreciate it.
How could we not?
We wonder at it.
Get absorbed in it.
Analyze it, if it’s got a frame around it.
We make it.
Grow it.
Point at it.
Collect it.
Share it.
Save it.
But how often do we listen to it?
How often do we ask, “What is it trying to get me to hear?”
Rather than, “Do I like it or not?”
It’s just so hard to step outside
our mangled view of the world
that sees everything in the light of consumption.
Not everything is here for our possession.
Not everything is here to entertain us.
Not everything is meant to be put to use, even you.
We must find our way back,
to those questions that were once alive
but now are buried deep:
“What if beauty is here to make us wise?”
“What if beauty is the way the sacred speaks?”
Yes! Yes! It does so much more than decorate.
It demands. It calls. It asks for commitment.
It doesn’t just say “Love and appreciate me.”
It says “Protect me! Fight for me!”
It steps out in front of us and points to a precious world
that needs our help.
It paints a picture of new ways of living
and declares, “Follow me there!”
It says, “Even in hell holes I find a way to grow.”
It sings, “This world was made for more than work.”
It whispers, “Use me to heal.”
It pleads, “Nurture a new relationship with me. One that allows me to talk!”
So what is Beauty saying to you?
Reprinted from Soul Matters May 2022 Small Group materials, author was not credited.
Find the May Soul Matters packet here.