Last night our Soul Matters group met and the sharing that happened is still resting on my heart. We closed out the two months where we examined what it was like to be a people of wisdom. Our Soul Matters groups are where we bring our spiritual struggles, vulnerabilities, and overflowing hearts. I was particularly touched by the sharing of two people who took time for several days to pause five times in the day, clear their thoughts and focus on gratitude for the day or to feel connected to the web of existence, or a focus of their choice. The impact this had on these two individuals was huge, and this morning as I went on my morning walk, I got thinking about how much of the beauty that surrounds us that we ordinarily don’t pay attention to.

Our reading number 682 in our hymnal, Singing the Living Tradition, is from the Navajo Indians of North America. It reads:

Beauty is before me, and
Beauty is behind me,
Above me and below me
Hovers the beautiful.
I am surrounded by it,
I am immersed in it.
In my youth, I am aware of it,
And, in old age,
I shall walk quietly the beautiful trail.
In beauty it is begun.
In beauty it is ended.

I invite you dear ones, to stop now or, as soon as you reasonably can, and go for a walk, taking time to notice the beauty that is all around you. Walk quietly the beautiful trail and breathe in the scents, take in the images, breathe them deep into your soul. On this walk, take time to communicate with, and offer gratitude to great spirit, universe, angels, guides, God or Goddess (whatever works for you).

I invite you dear ones, to stop now or, as soon as you reasonably can, and go for a walk, taking time to notice the beauty that is all around you. Walk quietly the beautiful trail and breathe in the scents, take in the images, breathe them deep into your soul. On this walk, take time to communicate with, and offer gratitude to great spirit, universe, angels, guides, God or Goddess (whatever works for you).

And then, after you have done so, share that beauty with another person that you randomly come across in whatever way seems appropriate to you. You can share this beauty with a smile – although in these days of masking, you may need to say something like, you may not be able to see it, and please know that I have a smile that I’m sharing with you right now. Beauty can be shared with a kind gesture, with random art that you leave behind for someone else to discover, a random act of kindness like paying it forward the next time you’re in a coffee lineup, or with a phone call to someone you know is in pain or hurting. And after you have done so, take time to journal on this expression of beauty and how you have been changed by it.