See Beyond the Dandelions
I took the picture below on a trip I took recently. These flowers were in a garden outside an historical building. Obviously, someone had cared for them well and I was taken with their beauty. I focused my attention on the vivid colors, the textures, the shifting light, and the gentle swaying of the flowers in the breeze. It was one of those moments of beauty I wish I could carry with me.
However, when I got the picture home and enlarged it on my computer, I noticed a glaring flaw that I had not seen at all the day I took the picture. Right in the middle of the lower third of the picture is huge dandelion! The picture was ruined for me. I could crop it out, but in doing so I would lose most of the purple flowers. I could erase it with my photo program, but that’s always a bit tricky and time consuming. The more I looked at the picture the more disappointed I became. All I seemed to be able to focus on was the ugly dandelion.
Then it occurred to me that this is not atypical. For some reason our brains tend to focus on the ugly, the negative, and disappointment rather than focusing on the beauty that surrounds it. I’ve done this with my children, for example. I get so fixated on something they’ve done wrong or a bad choice they’ve made that I can’t see all the wonderful things about them. I forget that they are still the same beautiful people with gifts, love, laughter, and possibility. I lose track of the way the light of God highlights their color, texture, and uniqueness. It’s as if my brain crops out all the beauty and leaves the dandelion remaining. As a result all I want to do is pick at the ugliness.
As part of my job, I work with agencies and families who deal with emotionally disturbed children. These kids have trouble maintaining good behavior. Perhaps their gardens have a few more dandelions than other gardens. So what they hear all day long from teachers, parents, social workers, judges, and others is how ugly their lives are. The message that comes through loud and clear is that they are unwanted and useless.
We all have dandelions in our garden. I would rather you point out my flowers than my weeds.
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