I came to Texas in the early 80s with everything I owned crammed into a burgundy ‘73 Chevy Impala, a big boat of a car given to me by my stepfather. I was coming to Corpus Christi for a year’s residency in Clinical Pastoral Education, with the goal of becoming better at pastoral care. I remember cresting a hill in South Central Texas, and being hit by a bolt of blue. The field that stretched out before me was a sea of blue. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I had to stop the car and take it all in. I had never seen anything like that in my life. That was the day I fell in love with Texas.
Last spring, you know that week between winter and summer? Last spring I saw a field with a small patch of bluebonnets while on one of my walks with Goldie, and I remembered that sight, and I remembered thinking this must be the ninth wonder of the world, it was that gorgeous!
The reason I am relaying all this to you, is to remind you of a couple of things. First, it’s easy to be smug when you live in the best place on earth. I am from a suburb of Chicago, and, as they say, I got here just as soon as I could. But this must not give us the “big head.” We need to be humble about our great good fortune, and never tell your friends or family who aren’t fortunate enough to live here how good we’ve got it.
The other reason I’m sharing this with you, is hopefully, more profound. That first sighting of bluebonnets occurred some 40 years ago, and it’s never left me. I carry it with me, like a little “pick-me-up” in the middle of an impossibly difficult day, and it seems to buoy me up to get me through whatever is going on in my life that stresses me out. And when I run across reminders of that experience, like it did while walking my dog, Goldie, it just brings it all forward, front and center for me to relive all over again.
That’s the beauty of …beauty! It lets us know that in the middle of our messy world, there is order somewhere, and it brings meaning to our lives. Beauty tells us that all is not random chaos, and meaninglessness. There is, of course, no need to attach meaning to appreciate beauty. Beauty is there simply to take your breath away, like it did me all those years ago. Such an experience leads me to thank God for all God’s blessings. That doesn’t have to happen to you. But what such wonderful experiences can lead to is a better appreciation of the gifts we’ve been given, and how we need to take better care of them, before they’re all gone, and there is nothing more to appreciate. And, I can’t wait to see a field of those blue beauties again, as soon as possible.
Mark W. Stoub is a retired Presbyterian minister living in Kyle, with his wife, Janie (Sledge). He is the author of Blood Under the Altar, and the upcoming Fire in the Blood.
mj.stoub@sbcglobal.net
