I am referring to Chapter 2

I've looked back at your previous questions, and in essence, John's grandfather teaches him about the beauty of life through example. He explains to John that the beauty of nature.... the beauty in ordinary things can distract us during our worst times and provide us with hope. Grandpa uses the example of war, injury, and a new perspective to describe this to John;

His grandfather had fought the Japanese in World War II and had been wounded and later had been in the occupying force in Japan, and the hating part of war had gone and he had come to love them. That's how he put it, talking to John one morning during the morning lunch break.

"I came to love them and the beauty they see in things and the way they see the beauty. They look for small beauty, look for the beauty in even ugly things, and they compose songs and poetry to celebrate that beauty. Whole poems have been written about a single petal on a flower. One tear on a child's cheek."

And in a way that was what morning chores were for John —a whole series of small beauties. All the sounds and smells and feelings came as separate little bursts of beauty and he found himself making small poems in his mind while he did even the dirtiest work.