Beautiful.

What is beauty? I see beauty in a child's laugh of delight. Or in the smile that crinkles an old woman's wrinkled face. And then I see it in the tight hug shared between two hurting souls.And in a young mother's song, quietly lulling her baby to sleep. Such love. Such beauty. Beauty is anything and everything in the essence of love. 

As I was sitting in the passenger seat of my family's minivan on our way to church today, I saw a man sitting on the median at the intersection we were stopped at. With his worn clothes, his weathered face, and his long unwashed hair, there was hardly any doubt that he was a part of the growing homeless population that roam the streets of Tucson. His sad, tired eyes gazed upon the traffic as he hopefully waited for someone to stop and buy one of his newspapers priced at a mere 15 cents. 

Cars whizzed past, most not even giving him a second glance. They were too busy with their own problems. Some of them had meetings that they were late to, or maybe a holiday party that they had to get ready for. With the new year coming up in a few days, there is always so much to do. No time to pay attention to the dirty hooligan standing on the side of the road. It's almost as if he's just a piece of the landscaping, something they see everyday and have no need to go out of their way for. 

But then, almost out of now where, a woman walks across the street. She struggles under a large box, teetering across the crosswalk until she reaches the man. He slowly turned his head and looked at her with curious eyes as she set the box down next to him. She shook his hand and seemed to introduce herself to him. I watched them both with keen interest as she leaned into the box and started to take things out: cans of food, a sweater, a few bottles of water, many other necessities, and finally a backpack to hold it all. His old and tired face broke into a smile that completely took over his entire being. He laughed out loud and shook the woman's hand again, his obvious gratitude overcoming him. This woman's act of love might have been the first the man had seen in awhile. 

Tears filled my eyes as the light turned green and we went on our way. 

“Since love grows within you, so beauty grows. For love is the beauty of the soul." 
St. Augustine