Beauty Exposed

Beauty Exposed

True beauty is not always in-your-face obvious. Instead, beauty can be downright covert. Consider almost any fairy tale. Cinderella? Beauty in soot-covered, orphaned, impoverished disguise. Beauty and the Beast? Well, the most surprising beauty belonged not to Belle but to the Beast—who was quite something to behold when his brave and caring heart was exposed.

In my book-filled study, a chalk-written imperative exhorts, “Expose beauty!” It’s a reminder that artists don’t create beauty. But on our best days we uncover it, highlight it, or point out where it might be hiding. We tease out existing beauty and truth, laying bare what might have been hidden from the naked, untrained eye.

I often tell people that my work, whether teaching or writing or collaborating, is most like holding an empty picture frame over a given spot and insisting, “Look right here. Don’t miss this!” Granted, I’m a novice tour guide. But my commitment runs deep. When I see something beautiful, I want you to see it too.

In the lobby of a local high-rise, a part-time photographer (who works in the building by day as a securities marketer) displayed his first-ever show of stunning photographs. I walked through the exhibit with him, marveling at his eye—and his ability to expose the beauty of very ordinary things. This artist’s subject matter? Old oil storage tanks. Where one person might have only seen rusty steel and lifeless shapes, this artist’s eye revealed the oddly beautiful hues and textures, bathed and shaded with dappled afternoon sunlight.

He exposed well-hidden beauty.

In The Beautiful Ache I write, “True beauty isn’t manufactured. It’s reflected. And his perfect heart is the mirror that shows us how lovely we were meant to be and will, by His grace, one day become.”^a

The secret is to keep watching . . . because every day exposes beauty. I can’t tell you where to look. But I can invite you to keep your eyes open for God’s presence and to be willing to be surprised at the wonders he has in store.

Blessed GOD, Israel’s God, the one and only wonder-working God!

Psalm 72:18, MSG

^a Leigh McLeroy, The Beautiful Ache (Brenham, TX: Lucid Books, 2010), 162.