Beauty

Originally I had hoped to write several other blog entries in the time since my last entry but I just didn’t around get to it. This is my attempt to write more frequently and succinctly. Frequently for a few reasons: primarily because I want to develop a discipline of consistent writing and secondly because the point of a blog is to add to it on a regular basis. Succinctly because it is an art to articulate concisely and also because it is easier to remember and usually more effectual.

John Piper (renowned biblical scholar, theologian, pastor) says that “Books don’t change people, sentences change people.” Think about it. You probably didn’t catch everything from the last 200-page book you read, or the last 40 minute sermon you heard on Sunday, but you probably remember a handful of Tweets (always under 140 characters) that impacted in you or a quote from a movie that is imbedded in your persona. It is no wonder the Ancient Greeks put such an emphasis on the discipline of oratory, “giving a sea of matter in a drop of language” and changed the way we embrace (or exclude) the ethos, pathos and logos in speech, writing and language. In an attempt (strong emphasis on attempt) to embrace the artistry of the Ancient Greeks I must write frequently and consistently (though these latter terms are somewhat relative, so don’t hold me to your standards of “frequent” and “consistent”!).

The other day I read something that really stuck out to me. It was a sentence in Tim Keller’s latest book Generous Justice: How God’s Grace Makes Us Just. He says, “In the presence of beauty you cease to be the hero in your own story” (p. 182) which echoed something I read a few years ago from N.T. Wright’s Simply Christian, namely that beauty is a glimpse into something bigger. In other words, “[Beauty] is another echo of a voice—a voice which might be saying one of several different things, but which, were we to hear it in all its fullness, would make sense of what we presently see and hear and know and love and call ‘beautiful’” (p. 40). Continuing on this notion, John Milton in Paradise Lost says, “What if Earth/Be but the shadow of Heav’n, and things therein/Each to other like, more then on Earth is thought?” We get the image that Earth—and all its beauty—is but a shadow of Heaven.

Beauty is a unique concept. We take for granted that it’s something universal—like truth—but really it’s not. What is beautiful to one person, or to one culture, may be ugly, or less beautiful, to another. Yet regardless of one’s perspective on what they hold to be beautiful, two things remain constant: beauty takes the focus off of ourselves (1) and it points to something bigger and greater (2).

Take the following examples of beauty (notice how each takes the focus off of myself and points to something bigger and greater):

Sunsets: If I could argue for a universal example of beauty, a colorful sunset would be it. It is the picture that comes to mind when most people think of the word “beautiful.” I once heard someone describe a sunset as “God’s last artistic stroke of the day.” Seems fitting.

Today at Church: There were three things at church today that gripped my attention as beautiful.
-First was the building itself. Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Ft. Lauderdale Florida is one of the most beautiful, modern sanctuaries I’ve ever been in. The stained glass, tall ceilings, and enormous organ are nothing short of impressive. Upon walking in, you get lost in its grandeur and cannot help but wonder about the craftsmen, architects, designers and masterminds who built the sanctuary in the 1950s and their ability and potential to join together to create other impressive works.

-Second was one of the worship songs, though the concept can be applied to most songs and music in general. In all aspects, the whole song and the experience of the music was more beautiful than the sum of its parts. What do I mean? On the micro level, the chord progression throughout the song was more beautiful than if the worship leader would have just played a single chord. And the chord itself was also much more beautiful than the sum of the individual notes played. On a broader level, if the worship leader would have played the guitar and sang on stage it would have sounded good and beautiful. But once the bass, electric guitar, piano, violin, drums, organ, choir and harmony parts were added, the finish product was more beautiful than the sum of its parts. Each part within the song, whether human or inanimate, pointed to something bigger and greater than itself, and anyone in the sanctuary during the song was overwhelmed by a rushing tide of beauty.

-Third was a beautiful picture I got of two friends of mine—a young married couple committed to loving individuals in an under-served community called Avondale. Sitting in the pews in front of me were John and Kimberly and 8 African American children from Avondale all dressed in grungy clothing (at least compared to the rest of the church). This indelible moment pointed to something more beautiful than even they could be responsible for. It pointed to a love and a grace that is found in the Gospel; that because God lavished his grace for us, our only response is to show that same grace and love to our hurting neighbors. It was a beautiful picture of persistent, unconditional love, racial reconciliation and humility.

Let’s just say that I got lost at church today… today I ceased to become the hero of my own story because I was captivated by beauty. Life is not about me (or us for that matter) and in the presence of beauty I am re-oriented toward the unseen, the eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18). There are countless examples of beauty that I wanted to share, but I am honestly trying to make this brief.

I will end by sharing one last list of examples of beauty that I love because in each one I remember dropping my jaw in complete awe. Furthermore, each one is a reflection, or an echo, of a certain person, culture, time period, or externality so much greater and more complex than the object itself. Below are the ones that I can associate with because I have been there or seen in person, yet there are millions of other examples that you can add to this list. Consider the following:

Aya Sofia & Blue Mosque in Istanbul
Vatican and Colosseum in Rome
Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca
Bean in Chicago (and the skyline for that matter)
Alhambra in Granada
Zocalo in Mexico City
Neuschwanstein in Germany
La Mezquita in Cordoba
Versailles in Paris
Skyline of Hong Kong (especially at night)
Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco
La Giralda in Sevilla
Corcovado in Rio de Janiero
The new iPad 2 (oh wait, just kidding http://exfontibus.wordpress.com/2011/03/06/easy-virtues/ )

Why spend this much time talking about beauty? There are a few things in the world that take the attention off ourselves. In an age when consumerism wins, when marketing tells us that we’re not complete until we have the next best product, service, or technology, when our busy calendars control our days, and when nearly everything from food to finances are manufactured to suit our “needs”, it’s easy to forget that we are not the heroes of our own stories. It is easy to forget that God is not just in the big things like miracles and movements, but that he is also in the small things like bouquets and bougainvillea. As our hearts and our lives are postured toward the beauty in this world, we loose sight of ourselves and begin to see a creation that reflects the beauty of God.