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On a plane flight to Houston, Texas, some years ago I sat by an employee of Six Flags Over Georgia. He was a young guy in his thirties who was on his way for a job interview with Six Flags Over Texas. He said he and his wife had been praying that they would do God’s will in the situation. Believe it or not, the next day I ran into this same fellow at the airport in Houston, while waiting on my flight back to Atlanta. On greeting him, I asked how the interview had gone. He said, “Fine, but Six Flags Over Texas is not nearly as pretty as Six Flags Over Georgia. I said, “So you’ll have to sacrifice beauty for responsibility.” Immediately, he replied, “No, I’m hoping to make beauty.” Now, that’s the idea! No, that’s God’s idea. All of us are put here to make beauty.

Let me give you a couple of examples of people who made beauty. In a recent medical environment I overheard a nurse say to a patient, “There are no runners-up here!”  I thought what a comforting affirmation of that patient. The nurse was saying, you are important, deserve our best and will receive our best. Everybody deserves that kind of treatment. That incident reminded me of another plane flight I took from Dallas to Houston some time back. After getting settled, the stewardess welcomed us and went through some directions and then said, “All our first class passengers will receive a delicious piece of pie for desert.” Then, she smiled and said, “But all of you are our first class passengers.” That had to do not only with first class passengers but first class treatment as well. I thank God for that nurse and stewardess for they were making beauty. For the rest of this article, I want to share a few thoughts about making beauty-something this world so desperately needs.

First, to make beauty is to possess beauty! The writer of First Peter chapter 3 notes, “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment … Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight” (l Peter 3:3,4). Another definition of beauty that gives support to Peter’s admonition is this one, “the qualities of a person that gives pleasure to the senses-spirituality, wholeness, humility, character, etc.

Second, to make beauty is to see beauty in everyone or everything else! Confucius said, “Everything is beautiful, but not everyone sees it.” That’s a big part of the problem right there. God made every one of us in his own image and consequently, everyone is beautiful. However, not everyone sees that beauty in others and the result is relationship turmoil.

Third, to make beauty is to understand our part in life’s larger purpose! The late Mother Teresa, the tiny, frail Roman Catholic nun who chose to serve the poorest of the poor, radiated an uncommon joy and exuberance for life.  

Many of the world’s most powerful and respected persons revered her for her simple, unselfish goodness. Many asked for the secret of her great accomplishments. Her answer was simple: “There are no great things; just little things done with great love.”  

As I mentioned, to make beauty is a noble idea. No, to make beauty is God’s idea! All of us are put here to make beauty. I thank God for that young businessman, the nurse and the stewardess for showing us the way-to make beauty