Beauty in the eye of the beholder

On Easter Monday afternoon we had a family trip to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, near Wakefield. It was my first visit. The YSP is in the grounds of Bretton Hall. From 1949-2001 Bretton Hall was home to Bretton Hall College. As well as the hall itself there are extensive grounds. What was particularly interesting to me is that in the late 40s/early 50s my Dad worked as a gardener at Bretton Hall, and lived in a property in the grounds, along with my Mum and 4 elder sisters (before I arrived on the scene!) The single story property where they lived still exists, although it is now a gallery. It was quite a strange feeling to visit a place where my family lived before I was born. I guess that some of the trees in the gounds would still be recognised by my Dad if he was still alive. I suppose that it's a bit like visiting the Holy Land and knowing that there are some places which have remained virtually unchanged since the time when Jesus walked there.

As for the YSP itself, it is perhaps most well-known for its Henry Moore sculptures, which are situated in various parts of the grounds. It also has extensive indoor areas where various artists exhibit their work. The vast majority seem to be of what one might call the "modern art" variety, which, to be honest, isn't really my cup of tea.

We did spend a little while in one of the exhibition areas and (again, to be honest) I wondered what anyone saw in the pieces of art - they just seemed to me like things a child might have thrown together in a hurry! Yet there did appear to be people who studied them with interest and seemed to appreciate them, which reminded me that we see things in different ways - beauty really is in the eye of the beholder.

That led me to think about human beings. There may be some people who we find it very difficult not to dislike, and others who we do our best to avoid. Yet as followers of Jesus we need to remember that in God's eyes every single human being - man, woman and child - is precious and loved.