"I don't think of all the misery, but of the beauty that remains."
~ Anne Frank
When horrors and hurts of any kind happen, when we care, pray, and help in some way, when we join one another in compassion, we contribute to the beauty that is present.
Like Anne Frank, Etty Hillesum appreciated the beauty of life even in the midst of the death camp misery at Auschwitz. "I know what may lie in wait for us, she wrote. "And yet I find life beautiful and
meaningful."
I experienced profound beauty in a way that took me by surprise near the end of my mother's life. I must first acknowledge that my mother's situation bore no resemblance to the abominations surrounding Anne and Etty.
What I wish to share, as promised, connects with yesterday's quote: "Beauty is simply Reality seen with the eyes of love." (Evelyn Underhill)
The leukemia my mom had been battling for three years had entered a fast-progressing stage. She had become so frail that her bones were prominent, somewhat like a death camp prisoner. After a short walk with me, upon
being helped back into bed, she immediately fell asleep. While I sat by her side, instead of reading the book I pulled from my bag, I simply sat.
That’s when I experienced profound beauty even though my mom's body looked ravaged, she would soon be leaving us, and I felt enormously sad.
It was a bright September afternoon. Through the opened window, I heard the
happy sounds of children returning home after school. I heard a lawn mower and smelled the grass it was cutting. Warm yellow sun rays streamed across my mom’s fragile body. Despite what was happening to my mom, I saw beauty. It was love that showed me the beauty of Reality in that moment, in my mom's living, in her dying, in all moments.
With gratitude for such moments,
Charlene
