Always seeing beauty

He hath made everything beautiful in its time.
—Ecclesiastes 3:11a
The always thoughtful essay at Anglicans Online features this week portraiture by George Richmond (1809-1896) who was a faithful Christian of the Anglican variety while being a successful painter. Here at left is a picture of the Rev. Christopher Wordsworth and below one of his wife Julia at age 13.

The essay quotes Laura Foster, a family friend, as saying,

I do not know when it struck me first, but it must have been very early, and it struck me with surprise, that where we saw other people's blemishes, Mr. Richmond always saw their beauties, and where we criticised freely, he whose life turned upon what was lovely, praised freely. Later on this attitude, which I first appreciated in the physical world, I saw applied equally to the spiritual world, and whilst he never shrank from correcting by look or tone or word, anything he disapproved of in the conversation around him, so also did he never speak an unkind word or make a harsh criticism of any human being.

What a lovely thing to have said about oneself, that where others saw blemishes and made criticism, that you only saw beauty and gave praise. Perhaps his craft caused him to look deeper to find the beauty in all. Having found the beauty in more than 2,500 subjects, it might have become easier to see the beauty in all.

The full essay remains online here even after the home page is updated with a new one. Anglicans Online is always worth a visit.

In the archives is the blog entry Some loveableness in us all which tells a parable by Søren Kierkegaard on a similar theme and features artwork by the painter who created The Last Supper which hangs at King of Peace.

In the same vein—always seeing beauty—I am thankful today for 21 years of marriage to my bride, Victoria.

peace,
Frank+
The Rev. Frank Logue, Pastor + King of Peace Episcopal Church