Beauty

Beauty

A reflection on the occasion of the Graduation Service of the Disciples of the Cross, 

Melbourne, 29 November 2013

I gazed upon the faces sat upon the stage:

Diverse they were in culture, ethnicity and age.

And yet it seemed to me, to my great surprise,

That each was deeply beautiful to my beholding eyes.

From skin a deep rich brown, to those who are quite fair,

Different shapes of nose and mouth, colours of eyes and hair,

Faces of the  young, and of the not-so-old,

Of women (and of men, if I may be so bold),

Carried in them beauty deeper than the skin,

It was as if a light shone out, a light from deep within.

And I knew that I must figure out, there was something here to know:

What was this source of beauty, whence came this glorious glow?

I looked at student, friend and colleague, face by face in turn

Hoping that the secret of this beauty I could learn.

As I looked upon each one, it was as if a prayer,

For each face was of someone for whom I'd come to  care.

'Twas love that helped me see the beauty from within

'Twas love that helped me look beyond hair and eyes and skin,

To see the real person, the way that God saw them

No longer diamonds in the rough, but a bright and sparkling gem.

Yet even as I thought these things, I realised I saw more

Every diverse face reflected one that I adore.

At that very moment it became my fervent prayer

That those who saw my face would see Jesus glowing there.

Later, on the way back home, a stranger spoke to me

Yet in this brief encounter no beauty did I see.

It is to my regret and shame, I'd learned not my lesson yet,

In spite of all I'd got that night, there was one thing still to get:

Jesus said in "the least of these" was where we encounter him

But while I talked to this poor man my eyes were oh so dim

I missed the chance to see again the wonder of God's grace

Written in the lines of care upon this strange man's face.

How many times have I not seen the face of my dear Lord

Because someone that God has loved, I've passed by and ignored.

May the love that let me see You in the faces of my friends

Burn for every person that I meet, until this lost world ends.