Beauty has a way of sneaking up on you - when you least expect it, and when you are the most likely to ignore or avoid its presence. It’s often when you feel the most stress, responsibility weighing its heaviest.

Beauty sneaks up on you when you are driving in the car, fighting nasty and ornery traffic. It’s the violin concerto on the radio that makes you realize how beautiful music is - how music has the ability to say something that is unspeakable.

Beauty sneaks up on you when you pick up the phone to call someone and the phone begins to ring - and it’s the person you were planning to call.

Beauty sneaks up on you when encounter the musical genius of Amy Beach, Alice Parker, Gioacchino Rossini, or Pyotr Tchaikovsky.

Beauty sneaks up on you through a simple-yet-profound television show called Six Feet Under.

Beauty sneaks up on you when hearing the God-gifted voice of a friend named Lynelle Rowley. When you realize that your friend isn’t just your friend, she’s a person who posseses an otherworldly talent.

Beauty sneaks up on you when an acquanitance becomes a friend. It’s when a casual “hello” becomes a “how have you been?” and then a “would you like to have dinner?” It’s the conversation that illuminates the fullness of another person’s humanity.