Become so wrapped up in something that you forget to be afraid. – Lady Bird Johnson

   So much attention gets focused on the President of the United States that sometimes the contributions of the First Lady are overlooked. It takes a lot of courage to be First Lady. How would you like to be on public view every single day and to have your every move tracked by the press and the Secret Service?
   In the middle of her time as First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson, widow of former President Lyndon B. Johnson, (1963-1969) got so wrapped up in the idea of beautifying America that she forgot to be afraid for herself. Every time you ride down a federal highway and see gatherings of wildflowers in the median strip, you can thank Lady Bird for that. It was her leadership that resulted in the Highway Beautification Act. Lady Bird was a caregiver for all of us…

   Now, at age 94, she is completely blind from a stroke, unable to see the fruits of her leadership. But she can live each day knowing that one of her contributions to this world was to bring more beauty into
it.
   Lady Bird’s contribution challenges each of us to the question of what we have done, and are doing, to bring beauty into the world ourselves. With all the talk of ecology, we may sometimes count as one of our contributions as what we don’t do: not wasting water, not using too much gas, recycling waste. But a larger question will always be, what are we doing to make the world better?
   It is remarkable how many opportunities we have to do this each day. With every word we speak or write, we can be carriers of beauty or we can expand the darkness.
   I have always liked the idea that every kind act we make sends out ripples into the world, whether we see the effect of those ripples or not. The same is true with meanness.
   Lady Bird Johnson became First Lady in the wake of the tragic assassination of John Kennedy. Her husband tried to help the country by signing key Civil Rights legislation and launching the war on poverty. But he also led the country into the disaster of the Viet Nam War. In the midst of all the heartbreak any Presidential term will contain, Lady Bird Johnson choose to plant flowers.   
   I think of Mrs. Johnson almost every time I catch sight of wild flowers sprouting on either side of a concrete or asphalt interstate. I hope you will now think of her too. And I hope that your thoughts will remind you of your own power to be a carrier of beauty.

Spiritual Practice Questions:
What have you done in the past to bring beauty into this world?
What are you doing now to awaken beauty in the life of those around you?

-Erie Chapman