On Beauty

One

The six Cello Suites of Bach are often regarded as some of his most beautiful musical achievements. These six melodies are composed for a single, unaccompanied cello, and grow in both complexity and length as they progress. The final piece is strange because it requires the cellist to add a fifth string, and a cello ordinarily only has four. Isn’t it strange that a composer, attempting to harness the beauty of an instrument played by itself, would call for the instrument to go beyond its usual structure? To achieve the heights of what a cello could do, to stretch the instrument to its fullest capacity for beauty, Bach chose to add another string. He wished to have the cello become more than what it is. Bach’s decision to add an extra string was as much of a statement of philosophy as it was of music: a thing at its most beautiful goes beyond what it is. Is this not what God wants to do with us through grace? Take us beyond what we were originally created to be? To make us truly beautiful?!

 Two

Beauty is often reduced to simply the eye of the beholder. But this makes it subjective and relative and even justifies ugly things as beautiful. For instance, some use the word ‘pretty’, which makes it merely a matter of opinion and leaves no room for discussion. You either agree or disagree. If beauty is merely my own taste, why talk or argue about it? Yet many have talked, and argued, about the nature of beauty. The human experience of beauty must be more than a subjective experience, for, as poet Ralph Waldo Emmerson once said, “Beauty is God’s handwriting.”[1] Just as a Christian must say love is more than a mere biological function, beauty is more than pleasing colors and sounds. Beauty is, as Catholic philosopher Jacques Maritain writes, “The splendor of being and all the transcendentals reunited.” We experience beauty through nature, good art, poetry, music and so many more things when they draw us past what they are. “Beauty is God’s handwriting.” A thing at its most beautiful goes beyond what it is because the beautiful thing is itself pleasing; but also because it points to the mystery of creation, and ultimately, to the Creator.  God alone is beauty itself. Can you think of a time when viewing beauty enabled you to touch the face of God?

Three

Confucius said “everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it”[2]. What prevents us from seeing beauty? It would seem that the best way to see something is to see it, but today people rarely see things with their own eyes, and even more rarely take the time to reflect on what they have seen. We spend too much time looking at screens and mobile devices in dark and empty rooms, rather than going outdoors and actually looking at trees, birds, flowers, and sunsets. The self-centered world social media and electronic entertainment trap us within ourselves and deplete us of transcendent experiences that can lead us to God. To be interested in the world and see its beauty, you must take the time to see things for their own sake. To read books instead of blogposts, see canvases and canyons instead of scans and screens. It will take time and sacrifice, but to be beautiful, and in a strange way to become more ourselves, we must go beyond what we already are and experience the world as it is and what it points to. In this way, we imitate God who, upon looking at His creation, exclaims, “It is good!”

Four

One might say, “This is all well and good, but why should I want to be beautiful? Why is beauty important?” Von Balthasar says beauty is really an experience of seeing the depths of a thing’s existence, and beyond to the creator—the “depths of the Depths.[3]” If we are seeing a thing in a full way, and seeing beyond what it is into God Himself, that is heaven!. To see all things and God in all things, to look into the mirror of creation and see the face of the creator. To be intimately connected with God through the beauty of life, nature, and love. This is heaven. But isn’t heaven “up there” and earth “down here”? Isn’t heaven for later? Jesus teaches otherwise. “The kingdom of Heaven is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, ‘Lo, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of Heaven is in your midst.” (Luke 17:20-21) Lord give us eyes to see the heaven in our midst.

Five

Many times in the bible, the Gospels make reference to Jesus going to a “lonely place.” [4] While on a trip to the holy land, our tour guide told us that those words are in reference to a specific spot next to the sea of Galilee. It is a spot on a hill overlooking the sea, from which you can see the surrounding hills, villages, streams and sea. Jesus would go there with his disciples when they were tired, or needed to pray. It is not a coincidence Jesus often climbed mountains to pray, and had a favorite spot to go when near the sea of Galilee; He knew that to be truly rejuvenated, and to speak to God in prayer, it helps to see His face through nature. Jesus Christ, true God, true man, understood the human heart, for he has one. To look at the beauty of creation and be drawn into prayer is a joy Jesus knew, and one we should seek. In the experience of beauty, the depths of creation are revealed, the eternal and earth are connected. In fact, the Incarnation affirms this truth that in Jesus, the eternal and temporary are joined. Beauty is the experience of something being more than just itself; the experience of the mystery of heaven, and of the incarnation of Jesus Christ. “He has made everything beautiful in its time; He has put eternity into man’s mind” (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

[1] Ralph Waldo Emmerson, Poem On Beauty

[2] Confucious, The Analects.

[3] Hans Urs von Balthasar, The Glory of the Lord Vol I.

[4] Matthew 13:14, 15:32, Mark 6:32, 8:4, Luke 9:12