There is incredible beauty and generosity and kindness in our immediate environment if we have the eyes to see it and the courage to embrace it and the willingness to be a part of it. 

Yes, there are shootings and there are liars and thieves all of which (and whom) cause distress and grief and much more, but goodness and beauty far outweighs the powers of all that seeks to ruin. 

All people are beautiful. 

There’s gold in everyone, even in those who seek to do us harm.

I myself have been misguided for so many years and harshly judged others many times I can hardly expect others to possess “less misguideness” than I “enjoyed.” 

Some years ago I met a young man – at the request of his church – who’d committed a double murder.  

After an hour or two once the trust barriers were broken and, despite the steel bars that separated us, I saw his beauty.

I saw it every time we met. 

No, I don’t think I lost sight of his dastardly and brutal acts or of the pain he’d inflicted on so many, but, I did see his humanity. 

I did encounter his beauty, the handprint of a loving God in his life.

It’s there, dig deep into your own magnificence and you’ll see it in others, all others.