Tag Archive | beauty

Beauty is NOT Skin Deep

I expect you’ve heard the phrase “beauty is only skin deep.” I wholeheartedly reject this phrase! I understand the implication is that what is inside a person is much more important than how they look on the exterior. However, our culture has established standards of beauty that are Euro-centric, White-centric, and profoundly damaging to the internal sense of self for people of all races, ethnicities, and genders.

Many years ago, I created and facilitated a workshop called “Sex Sells” for a sexuality education-focused youth conference. As part of this workshop, participants created collages that explored the ways magazines use images of people who appear to offer a standard for “perfect” beauty in their articles and advertising. They do this primarily to sell their magazines and the products of their advertisers.

We had a very deep conversation about how these images affect our own self-images and our ability to love and appreciate ourselves, as well as how people have been bullied because they don’t fit the “norms” for beauty. We talked about how this also separates us from one another when we judge or avoid some people because of their external appearance. There were many tears, some laughter, and, above all, profound insights about how we either resist or succumb to these influences. Together, we came to realize that true beauty is not on the surface, but rather what is in the heart and soul of a person.

What makes a person beautiful inside? I can think of many qualities … kindness, compassion, tenderness, curiosity, and joy come to mind right away. What else makes someone a beautiful person?

As we engage in conversations about Beauty this month during our 10:00 faith development programs for teens and adults, the covenant groups, in our worship services, and in other gatherings, I invite you to look at what is beautiful inside you, and what is beautiful inside those around you among family, friends, co-workers, and co-students. Perhaps if we all look more deeply for the beauty in ourselves and in those around us, and cultivate that beauty, the world will become a more beautiful place for all beings.

With a grateful heart…
Reverend Jan

The Standing Ones

Apr30

I love being in the company of trees, “the Standing Ones,” and I seek out walkways and trails with an abundance of trees. I’m careful as I make my way on trails not to step on the trees’ toes … avoiding their roots that cross the paths. I also avoid ants, beetles, and other living creatures as I step lightly on our earth.

Recently I walked a section of the Appalachian Trail in the Nantahala National Forest. For much of this walk I was surrounded by the remains of trees of many kinds, rhododendrons, mountain laurel and other forest foliage destroyed by what I’ve dubbed “the election day fires” from last November. In the week following the election I was on retreats in and near the Nantahala National Forest as fires, caused by arsons, burned throughout the area. The smoke was visible all the way to downtown Atlanta, and in the mountains it was at times overwhelming. Much was lost in those fires.

Wayah Bald

I don’t know how the trees can save us, or how we can save the trees, but I know that our mutual survival depends in large part on human action. As I walked through the burned out forest I saw the signs of new life emerging. I am reminded that the earth is profoundly resilient; I hope humanity is as well.

Hello Trees

By Jan Taddeo

Hello trees.

Can you save us?

Can we save you?

Our shared faith is dependent on these hands of humankind,

in the blood that pumps through our hearts,

in the marrow of our bones.

You hold the great wisdom of the earth in the roots that connect you with one another and the earth,

in your strong sturdy trunks that stand strong through the storms of human endeavors,

in every branch that reaches high into the sky

and in every leaf and needle that adorn your gorgeous bodies.

Can we save you?

Can you save us?

Hello trees.

Hiking Haiku-April 23

Apr23

As I hiked along the Appalachian Trail (and in the middle of the night), I reflected on many things. Occasionally a poem emerged….

First mile behind me
my breathing is all I hear
Stop. Alone. Silence.

Seeing the forest
healthy greening full of life
including burnt trees.

One, two, three, four, five,
six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Breathe.
Practice makes progress.

Disciple follows
Jesus. What does that mean? I
should have asked him.

Legs to carry me
courageous heart to lead me
where I’m called to be.

Watching night arrive
gently embracing the fog
rain pours until morn.

One still smells the burn.
Devastation all around.
Still, Phoenix will rise.

Sway under the stars.
Tiny me in the vastness.
My journey complete.

Hiking Haiku: April 15

Apr15

I’m about to go walkabout for a month on the Appalachian Trail. I will be mostly off the grid during this time, but I will post here as I’m able. I’m thinking Haiku would be appropriate, at least at this stage of my internal process as I’ve been preparing for this sojourn. A few words can speak volumes.

Fifteen years a dream

or has it been forty-three.

Now it is dream time.

This Gadding About

exploring inside and out

is not for wimp souls.

Why trail name True Blue?

Loyalty to Mother Earth,

family, friends, faith.

Ounces, pounds, fractions…

Home on my back begs questions:

Needs, wants, comforts, fears.

Transcendent Moments

Jan16

Many precious memories were created during my time in Japan, but two experiences stand out. Two transcendent moments that left me longing for more, and wondering how to create for others.

The first was at the Fushimi Inari shrine in Kyoto. It was the day before New Years Eve, a time when people from all over Japan enjoy a long holiday and embark on their annual journeys to the shrines. In other words, it was crowded! Amidst the bustling, noisy crowds the most beautiful music came to my ears. I followed the sound waves to a stage like structure where a large crowd of people stood. On the stage were two women in traditional kimonos doing a very slow, peaceful, graceful, beautiful dance to the music. The music was created by a woman at the back of the stage playing a koto and singing.

I stood completely mesmerized, gradually working my way to the front of the crowd as people moved on. Something in the combination of the music and the dance touched something very deep within my soul. I wept for the beauty of it. No pictures or video were allowed, which is just as well. I needed to be fully immersed in the moment of this beauty. Here is a link to something similar I found on YouTube.

The second transcendent experience also took me by surprise. The next day we visited Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Temple. We arrived shortly before 4:00, just a couple of hours before our train was boarding to return to Tokyo. It was New Year’s Eve and shops were already closing up. Soon after we arrived at the temple, it appeared as if they were closing up, so I rushed to get my shoes off and enter the temple before they closed the last door. Fortunately, my traveling companions made it in as well.

I moved towards the front of the space and sat on the mats to take in the feeling and beauty of the space. I thought I would just sit for a few minutes of peaceful meditation, then move on to the next building with the others in my group as we had agreed we would not spend too much time here. But then I watched as over a dozen monks slowly entered the shrine area of the temple in front of me. They sat in a row there as a ritual unfolded before us … a ritual I didn’t understand, and didn’t feel a need to know. Two older monks, with more elaborate robes, slowly came out and sat near the shrine. After all the monks and attendants were in place, they began chanting. Beautiful, resonating chant that filled me with a deep sense of peacefulness. I sat full immersed in the moment. Again, moved to tears by the depth of the experience.

Since those experiences I feel a deep yearning for more. Where are those opportunities in the area in which I live? The closest I know of is the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Lawrenceville, Georgia. I have been to their daily darshan worship services three times, and each time I get a glimpse of what I experienced in Japan. So that’s one possibility.

I am also asking myself the question, “How can we create such transcendent moments in our UU worship services or in any worship service for that matter?” Since returning from Japan, I’ve been exploring worship in other houses of worship. So far I’ve been to an Episcopal Service of Baptism Sunday worship and a United Methodist Contemporary Worship service. These were both relatively small congregations, not unlike the UU Congregation of Gwinnett. Although the people were warm and friendly, the music was good, and the messages were inspiring, I found no space for the transcendent. That’s one element I think is necessary for transcendent moments … space.

I have experienced this in UU worship, and in other “traditional” worship services, mostly through the music. I remember a professional violinist playing her heart out with such grace, enthusiasm, and love that I felt my spirit soaring as the music embraced me. I can recall hearing someone’s personal testimony of their faith that gripped my heart and moved me to tears.

For me, transcendent moments are those precious times in which the rest of the world disappears. There is nothing else that needs to be done or said, no where to go; awareness of the rest of the world seems to slip away for a precious brief time.

These are wonderful moments, but so what? Why seek these experiences? Why seek to create these moments for others? How do they make the world a better place?

Transcendent moments, in my experience, remind us that we are inextricably interconnected, and interdependent, with all of life, all of existence. They renew my faith in humanity and our ability to generate beauty. One definition of evil is the destruction of beauty, and I see this everywhere around me. The antidote is the creation of beauty. This can be as simple as a smile, as complex as a work of art, as graceful as a ballet, or as poetic as a Japanese dance.

What moves you to a place of transcendence and beauty? How are you making the world more beautiful?