Seeing the beautiful

I posed a question to my facebook friends the other day and was so impressed by the answers I received that I thought I'd post them to my blog since that's what I do with most things that make an impression on me. (Beware doing anything cool with me, or getting robbed with me, or writing me a letter that makes me cry!)

The question, posted at 8:03 a.m. Tuesday, January 10: What's the most beautiful thing you've seen this morning?

The answers, silly, profound, beautiful in their simplicity:

My heating pad. ~Rachel, 8:13 a.m.
The sunrise was gorgeous! ~Sandy, 8:13 a.m.
My wife! ~Ben, 8:20 a.m.
Light snow outside, family still asleep. ~Mark, 8:25 a.m.
My students! ~Eric, 8:26 a.m.
My house coming into sight at the end of my walk. ~Linda, 8:27 a.m.
My coffee. ~Joanna, 8:28 a.m.
Sun streaming in my window, flooding the living room where my two boys are playing... :). ~Sarah, 9:22 a.m.
My new puppy going to the bathroom outside! ~Nick, 9:34 a.m.
Prairie sunrise. Students laughing at my bad jokes the first day of class. ~Patrick, 10:02 a.m.
The cat laying on my chest and purring away. ~Charlynn, 10:03 a.m.
The moon with clouds passing by this morning. ~Chris, 10:10 a.m.
The sunrise. It was one of the best I've seen in a while. So beautiful! ~Sarah, 10:12 a.m.
Fresh snow! ~Kimberly, 10:40 a.m.
Jeremiah's smile and giggle. ~Deborah, 10:50 a.m.
My fiancee. ~David, 11 a.m.
A little grey kitty snuggling with me. ~Elizabeth, 11:36 a.m.
This morning, my answer was the Big Horn Mountains veiled in sun-streaked clouds. ~Hannah, 4:54 p.m.
This afternoon, my answer is the names and faces of so many friends who took a moment to stop and appreciate the beauty right in front of them. This is an incredible list! ~Hannah, 4:56 p.m.
One of my patients smiling. ~Quinn, 10:38 p.m.

This list, these acts of seeing the beautiful in a moment, in a day, is so encouraging to me. Granted, I know the people and stories behind the statements. I was at Ben's wedding this summer; I love his beautiful wife. I know that Patrick recently moved to North Dakota to begin his first college teaching gig. Quinn is one of the youngest, most compassionate doctors I know, and I know he means it when he says he sees beauty in a patient's smile.

But even if you don't know the faces and stories behind these names, I think their list echoes the list each of us could make every day. There is beauty in God's creation, beauty in our loved ones, beauty in comfort, beauty in a job well done, beauty in humanity. Do you see it?