Sunday Afternoon Tea

I love this picture. It's actually from a tea magazine and when I saw it, I have to admit to breaking at least one commandment ...coveting. :) To me, they are works of art and beauty in porcelain. When I was thinking of what to chat about this Sunday, I thought about the subject of...beauty.

Many of my favorite books deal with the subject of beauty, whether beauty in making a home, beauty in nature, beauty in poetry, beauty in architecture, gardens, food...whatever...beauty in all areas of life. When I think of Heaven, I think of beauty.

Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder. In making my home a sanctuary from the outside world, I have attempted to use things that are beautiful to me and to the two males I live with. I admit that most of the house leans to my idea of beauty with English Country and vintage designs in most rooms. I love to walk in my front door, into the sanctuary of the familiar...the only place in the world where I have created what I consider true beauty...the colors, the textures, the scent, the family pictures, the books, the china, the furniture...coming together to make me feel at peace.

I have tried to do the same for the men in my life. My son's room fits him nicely and our bedroom is feminine but not girly...and it is yellow. It was painted that bright yellow when we moved in and my husband asked that we not paint it the shade of green I preferred because yellow makes him happy...sigh. Since he is prone to depression, the bedroom stays yellow. I can live with it and it is...cheerful. The office is all his, oh the things I could do with it...but...it is all his. I just come in daily and use the computer. It is functional. It brings him peace and makes him happy.

That's not to say men don't appreciate true beauty. When the weather is warm and the flowers are planted "out front", when the rocking chair is back on the front porch (the garden bench has already made it back), when the house is shiny and clean and there is the aroma of something baking in the oven...I do get remarks. Beauty gets noticed.

There is beauty in a table set for dinner, beauty in a perfectly made roast or casserole, definitely beauty in a strawberry rhubarb pie...beauty in the common and the ordinary. There is beauty in my favorite perfume (Tresor), beauty in the honeysuckle fragrance of my cleaning supplies, beauty at the farmer's market, beauty in the architecture of "downtown"...beauty all around when we are looking at it. There is definitely beauty in old books and new books, brand new Bibles and the smell of leather...beauty in old pages that have been read by many people and in new pages that stick together, giving the knowledge that you are the first person to open that volume...great beauty.

There is beauty in people. I find many people beautiful that most of the world would set aside. There is an elderly black woman in our church, always so nicely dressed with a suit and pretty hat...I think she's one of the most beautiful people I know. I think my grandchildren are beautiful (of course). My mother was beautiful to me. Her mother was beautiful to her.

In this world, if we do not make an effort to ponder what is beautiful, if we don't take of our resources of time and money to put at least some small items of beauty around us (and it can be found on a budget), then we will find ourselves looking at the darkness in the world. We have got to choose life says the Word. I hope today as you are pondering Him that makes all things beautiful, Who can take people and transform them into beauty...that you will give some thought onto one area in your life that you can add this very day to bring more beauty into your life...flowers, turning on the CD player and listening to amazing music, bake a cake or a pie, look at the face of a child, pull out those old photos of loved ones...brew some tea and drink it from a gorgeous cup as pictured above...choose life.