Recently I had an opportunity to visit Lake Louise Alberta, where I saw the magnificent work of God. The lake is curved between two, beautiful ice capped mountains. As my family and other tourists posed on the snow covered lake for photos, I thought a lot about what God sees when He looks down at His creation. He must be saying something like, “it is all beautiful.”  I imagine this because as one stand there is no excuse of not seeing these immeasurable beauty. The mountains on both sides of the lake  look warm and welcoming, the castle at the lake look steady and inviting, the ice on the lake is playful, inviting everyone to skate on it. Everything on Lake Louise is worthy the drive. These beauty is not found only on Lake Louise. I see it every where I go, in downtown parks in Winnipeg, where I live. I see it on the streets, I see it on people’s faces, I see it on my social media tweets, Instagram and Facebook posts, I see it in myself. The issue is that I get bored and stop to observe and appreciate the beauty around me. 

Sometimes nature can echo how we feel. The beauty of a single rose with dew drops can echo the differing feelings that love can evoke. Robert Frost, in his poem, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” illustrates the plight of modern life. The poem’s narrator rides on horseback through a forest in the night, on his way to conduct some errand. Upon seeing the snow slowly moving through the branches, he stops for a moment.

But to his sadness, he has much to do, and cannot stay for long. His subsequent thoughts create some of the most famous closing lines in all of poetry.

“The woods are lovely, dark and deep,  

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.”

Around you and me is beauty everywhere, in that beauty is God’s goodness on display. The question is, do you and myself see it? The Scripture talks about how God was in the midst of people, but they knew Him not. Too many times, God is working in our lives, showing us favor, protecting us, sending us healing, but we don’t recognize His goodness. For example, if you weren’t the most qualified or the most talented but you got the promotion, that’s the goodness of God. If you’re going through a difficult time and a friend stops by out of the blue and cheers you up, that’s the goodness of God. It’s easy to see the negative, what we don’t have, what we didn’t get, but that won’t build our faith. Instead, make a decision to search for the good things God has given you. His mercy is new each morning. Look for His goodness. 

Like the narrator, who finds the snowy wood lovely, but cannot stay long enough to enjoy it, we often become so busy that we no longer have the time to appreciate and benefit from the natural world. And without it, there can be no true peace for us—no “sleep.”

I want to also note that not everyone among us see beauty in their own lives. Some of us have gone through journeys where we have been made to hate ourselves, some have gone through some marital issues where their partners or spouses have made them feel that are ugly and stupid. I remember working with a lady who revealed to us that she never looks herself in the mirror because she has come to believe her husband that she looks ugly. Millions of us go through this painful journey daily and quietly. As we walk alongside these people it is our call for many to always try to help these people find their own beauty. 

Growth comes from inside and time never matters when you live your life from the heart. So cheers to good friends,great conversations,to people that are no longer with us but left an impact on our lives,cheers to books,movies and art that feed our souls, cheers to music and love.