There is Beauty in Everything

I made a new friend today, but I almost didn’t..

The sky started drizzling as I was driving home from the shops. I was lost in my own little world, singing away to whatever was on the radio. When I noticed a young woman powering up the hill being supported only by sheer determination and her metal walking frame.

I kept driving.

And then I thought, ‘I really should give her my umbrella.’

I kept driving.

Two blocks later I decided to turn around, just to give her my umbrella. But as I pulled up beside her an avalanche of reality kicked in and I thought, ‘What the hell, don’t just offer her your umbrella, offer her a bloody lift!’

So I did.

I took her to where she needed to go, shouted her a bottle of coke and dropped her back to the facility that she lives in.

During the trip she shared her story with me: She is 29 and she lives in a home for “people like her” that is, people with with a physical and mental disability. Her mum died when she was a little girl, leaving her sad and lonely. He step father, her sisters and her brothers don’t want anything to do with her. And her “carers” don’t treat her the way they should.

Basically her life is crap.

But in the midst of this sad life there is beauty: There is beauty in the way that she was so excited about the bottle of Coke, something that most people would take for granted. There is beauty in the way that the kind man at the supermarket called her by name and offered to get her “her special chair”. There is beauty in how much she enjoyed taking many selfies and her pride as I promised to share them, along with her story, on social media. There is beauty in the way that she inspired me to be thankful for the life that I have. There is beauty in the way that her face lit up as I told her that she is amazing and that she is loved and that I will be praying for her.

There is beauty in her sharing her story with me.

There is beauty the fragility of life and the strength of the fighter who refuses to give up; in the smell of freshly cut grass and the coming of rain. There is beauty in heartbroken hugs and in the smiles and kindness of strangers. There is beauty in death, because love is so generously poured out in tears and gatherings. There is beauty in the colours of birds and the innocence of a puppy. There is beauty in the generosity of those who have nothing and those who have everything. There is beauty in advocacy for animals and humans, alike. There is beauty is good books and yummy food; hot showers and beach swims.

And there is beauty in that this life is just a small speck in a glorious eternity.

We live in a world that is consumed by hashtags and dollar signs, but when you look beyond those things, there is beauty in everything.

Thank you, Sarah for helping me see the world through a fresh kaleidoscope of light.

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