In the eyes of the beholder...

"The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way."

--- William Blake

Beauty, in spite of what  we might think, is not an intrinsic quality. It, truly and literally, is in the eyes of the beholder.

Here’s a simple (though not short, unfortunately) example of what I’m talking about. I apologize for its length, but I think it’s a good illustration.

Tammy and I have very good friends who own a lake house on Lake Livingston. This couple is generous with their lake house. They’ve made it available to us any time we feel the need to retreat from the city and get re-grounded. Not long ago Tammy and I were doing just that.

On our next-to-the-last day at the lake we awoke moments before sunup to take a leisurely walk. We walked up the hill and were ambling toward the public boat launch when we spotted a bright blue packing blanket. Emerging from the packing blanket were two large ears and a small black-and-tan face. It looked like a kangaroo. Really. As we moved closer it began whimpering and yelping in fear. We slowed our pace and sat on the side of the road until this black-and-tan thing steeled up enough courage to move haltingly toward us, trembling and whimpering all the way.

Someone had abandoned a small puppy in a blue packing blanket, in the ditch, on the side of the road. We picked her up and held her close until she stopped trembling. We took her back to the lake house, cleaned her up and put a good meal in her stomach. From the start, we knew she was part of our family.

When we returned to Houston, we took her to the vet for all her puppy shots. The vet guessed her age to be 8-10 weeks. We named her Sophia, which is Greek for Wisdom, and she’s been a family member since.   

Now here’s where I’m going with this story. When I look at Sophia, I see absolute and total beauty and purity. I’ve become one of those people who believes OUR puppy is the cutest, the smartest and the bravest of any and all puppies --- of all time.

Intellectually, I know this isn’t true. But I don’t look at Sophia with my intellect. I look at her with my heart. And my heart sees nothing but beauty and perfection in her.

To paraphrase William Blake, she's the puppy that moves me to tears of joy. Perhaps to others, she’s only a puppy.

Now, I’m going somewhere else with this story, too. Here it is:

If you're among the very few people on this earth who has found someone who sees you with his or her heart instead of with their eyes, you're among the most fortunate of all people. If you're among the very few people who has found someone who, to use Blake’s analogy, sees you as the tree that moves them to tears of joy where others see only a green thing that stands in the way, you are among the most blessed people on earth.

One's beauty has little to do with them. It has all to do with how someone else sees them. If you have someone in your life that is “moved to tears of joy” because of how they see you, don’t take that for granted. Someone else might see only a green thing. Beauty, truly and literally, is in the eyes of the beholder.

May you be blessed with a double blessing: Someone who sees you with their heart that you also see with your heart. May it be so.