Dear Members and Friends,

This week Director of Family Ministries, Cassandra Scheffman, offers a reflection:

Spanish American philosopher George Santayana (also an atheist), may be best known for his work The Sense of Beauty (1896). He said, “Beauty as we feel it is something indescribable; what it is or what it means can never be said.”Recently, I have been thinking a lot about beauty―more specifically, our perceptions of beauty. What do we find beautiful, what do we find not beautiful (or ugly…if that is even an accurate antonym) and why? Certainly, among us we have infinite ideas of what beauty is and is not. 

There is someone in my life who has been provoking these contemplations lately, someone I’ve been growing closer to over the last year. May I share a picture of her with you?

I have had this window hummingbird feeder for a long time, attached to the window in my kitchen where the hummingbirds visit every day of the year. Hummingbirds are beautiful. A rare person would argue with that. Seeing them up close every day is a joy and blessing. But this is obviously not a picture of a hummingbird. Did you find my buddy? She’s tucked into her den just there, in the plastic molding where the feeder hooks onto the window suction cup to the window. There is some plant debris to the right, and she is below that. That’s her safe place. She spends most of her time there. 

I realized recently that I check on her every day. I have not named her, but I’ve thought about it. This spider has been living on the hummingbird feeder for a long time. Over time her web has become larger and more intricate. She has built it out on the sides, attaching it right onto the glass. Behind the feeder is a dense and strong web. She has been quite successful in

catching moths and flies. In the upper left of the picture, which is blurry, you may be able to discern the exoskeleton she recently shed. 

Of course I have to periodically lift the feeder out of the holder to clean and refill it. I am as careful as I can be, but there is always some damage done to her web. It seems well worth it to her, though, as she always builds it right back. While I’ve been deriving something emotionally and spiritually from the connection I’ve formed with this spider, I’ve also realized that I never need to fill the ant mote anymore to keep the ants from getting into the feeder―the web is a superior defense. 

Now back to that idea of beauty. In dominant United States culture, spider webs and spiders are not perceived as beautiful. It seems they are only celebrated at Halloween time when some happily adorn their homes with artificial spider webs―which of course aren’t intended for beauty―much to the contrary. It happens that my hummingbird feeder is one of the first things you see when you come to my front door as it’s right at the top of our front steps. The more prominent it has become, the more I’ve thought about what people must think of it. It gives off that vibe of neglect or a house seemingly unkept. It reminds me of the pest control person who was in the neighborhood and came to my door recently, offering to clear all the spider webs from around our house. (I immediately declined.)

I was raised with an appreciation and reverence for spiders, so it’s easy for me to recognize the beauty in them and be in awe of their magnificence and important place in this world. This is counterculture and requires a perseverance and confidence to be “okay” with this, in spite of differing perceptions of beauty that would prefer a web-free window and hummingbird feeder, “cleaned” of this natural wonder to reveal the sparkling plastic and glass of human creation. I’m okay with my “neglected” window and hummingbird feeder. In fact, as I’ve had a window view into this spider’s world, watching her thrive, I’m quite proud of the situation. 

This experience has encouraged me to continue to be open to seeing beauty in unexpected places. It is evolving into a sort of spiritual practice for me. Questioning, looking closer, and challenging dominant perceptions of beauty. This week, I invite you to discover beauty in unexpected places. I invite you to challenge your perceptions of what is not beautiful and any impulses to remedy the situation. Question where your perceptions may

have come from and if there may be another way of seeing and feeling. Please share your discoveries of unexpected beauty. 

“Unexpected intrusions of beauty. This is what life is.” ―Saul Bellow