A Day of Beauty

Today was the first nice day of 2011 up here on the prairie. We had lots of sunshine and the temp almost reached 70 degrees. It is the kind of day that begs to have you come out and play. And the people of Bismarck responded. Even the prairie dogs my daughter and I kicked up at Double Ditch seemed grateful that the long December was over.

But a day this beautiful has one drawback: like pro athletes and pretty girls-it never hears the truth. Days like today bask in their warmth and sunshine, the soft breeze whispered sweet nothings all day, and everybody just sort of let it ride. Why not? There aren't that many days like this-why remind us it's still early April? Why be a downer on a beautiful day? Enjoy it and let the good days roll.

So we do. We ignore the forecast for snow on Friday. The inevitable hail that is just around the corner. Even the really hot and humid days of August can be brushed aside by such a beautiful day like today. Beauty can do that-distract you from the ordinariness of everything.

I know that is why I like beautiful things and beautiful people. I remember Dostoyevsky had the Father of the Karamozov brothers remark that he tried to find the beautiful in every woman he meets. I have always taken that to try and find the beautiful- a metaphor for God's creative power- in everything and everyone I encounter. There is no such thing as an ugly flower, an ugly tree, or an ugly woman in my world. It's all beautiful...which makes a day like today seem like a little bit of heaven.

May your tables be full and your conversations be true.