beauty

I was thinking about beauty on my run today. The flowers in my neighborhood are thriving in this hot and humid weather, and to me they are beautiful. Landscapes, sunsets, hands, my family, are all beautiful to me. I enjoy baking and i deem the outcome beautiful. I love to create things and, in a sense, make beauty. i even like putting makeup on my face and enhancing my own beauty. People spend small (and not so small) fortunes on their own beauty. But what happens in other cultures who don't have the same things I do? In Indiana there are a lot of Amish folks and plain is the name of the game. plain looking, plain clothes, plain homes, etc.It's interesting that they have found a way around this "plain" rule and put so much effort in making their gardens beautiful. And I mean BEAUTIFUL. They have some of the most lush (and weed free) gardens and lawns. They also put beauty into their handiwork. Great detail is put into furniture and quilts and anything else they create. They create beauty too...
Other cultures? Tribes in Africa put a reddish bark/root on their skin to make it more reddish. More beautiful. The list goes on. Isn't it interesting that humans love beauty? Love to create beauty? I think it is one more example of just how much we are made in the image of God. He loves beauty, so we love beauty. He has and does create beauty, so we do the same. I'm going to keep chewing on this one.....