Beauty

She had come into her beauty. 

This was not the beauty of her youth and freshness, of which she had had a plenty. 

The beauty that I am speaking of now was that of a woman

 who has come into knowledge and into strength and who, knowing her hardships, trusts her strength and goes about her work even with a kind of happiness, serene somehow, and secure.

 It was the beauty she would always have. 

Her eyes had not changed. They still seemed to exert a power, as if whatever she

 looked at (including, I thought, me) was brightened. 

-  Wendell Berry

It has been a week of contemplating, "What is beauty?"

I read this last night and was so inspired by it. Words put together, like that quote, imputes beauty into this world and when read or spoken, can fill up it's reader or hearer and spur them in the direction of wanting to live up to those words. Can it be obtained, this beauty? Well, I sure know a few women like the woman spoken of by Mr. Berry. 

How, you might ask. 

God's grace. The ultimate beauty of beauties!