It was a fairly normal day after hectic weeks. Although I had the feeling of not being at peace, my routine was still there. I turned on a Paul Tripp Podcast (with Joey Tomassoni) and started listening, just before opening my laptop. The name of the Podcast was ‘The Spirituality of Beauty’. I was immediately hooked. As I listened, I stopped. I was transfixed, trying to understand the meaning of beauty, when it occurs, what do we mean when we call something or someone beautiful? Or is beauty just a crutch word to express our inner desires? In this column, I provide a Christian perspective on the boundaries of beauty, its role in unveiling our identities, and the imperative for beauty to be coupled with an ultimate meaning.
Beauty and Identity(es)
Beauty reaches into the depths of our beings. It often emerges in the ordinary, reminding us that there’s always something worth discovering. It shows no partiality, appearing unexpectedly, at any time. Regardless of its form, beauty irradiates what we desire, like, or love. St. Augustine, in Book IV of Confessions, delves into the essence of beauty, questioning what truly captivates and draws us to the things we love. After pondering ‘What is beauty?’ he inquires, ” What is it that entices and attracts us in the things we love?” What we see as ‘beautiful’ may indeed be locked in an endless cycle of interaction with our identities, dreams, goals and life-styles. If we like nature and risks, hiking in the wilderness of Amazonia may be seen as the perfect place to be plentifully remembered and enjoyed. For those who simply enjoy nature, the sight of a single bird at sunrise could be enough to inspire a sense of wonder and appreciation. For those who like music or sport, beauty can be revealed as harmony; whenever individual elements are orchestrated to craft a harmonious melody or an arranged play. With beauty, we sense that genuine feeling of being captivated as something whispering us about our identities.
Discovering our identity is a profoundly human endeavor that facilitates harmonious interaction with our surroundings. However, in our modern times some burdens have started to appear. Globalization and the tomes of information make us feel lost to the point that we are uncertain or anxious about our life purposes and consequently not be sure about who we are. Referring to the costs of Western culture, Richard Eckersley underlines, “…uncertainty and insecurity; a lack of clear frames of reference; a rise in personal expectations, coupled with a perception that the onus of success lies with the individual….” The more developed a country is, the more tendency to take an antidepressant; the most educated we are, the less certainty is. As Lisa Strohschein points out “The generation as a whole is among the most educated it has ever been, but the path to success is also less clear.”
So, how can we pursue our identities and beauty when a lot of variables cannot be simply handled? The quest for happiness remains a fundamental cornerstone of our collective ethos. We often find comfort in the sanctuary of our dreams, even if the path to realizing them remains shrouded in uncertainty. In such moments, is there any clue that can help us to find an identity within beauty?
Finding meaning in beauty
Beauty itself presents an almost ethical connotation that resists a definition. R.C. Sproul, in his book The Holiness of God, explains two main approaches. The first fits with the idea of “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” and the second relates to “matters of proportionality, symmetry, complexity, harmony and the like”. Both of them still have a common ethical implication which can be summarized with one person’s beauty is another person’s ugliness. So instead of responding what exactly beauty is, it would be better trying to unveil what beauty is for.
Leo Tolstoy knew about prioritizing the ‘what’s for’ instead of ‘what’. After the success of his novel War and Peace and Anna Karenina, he experienced a profound spiritual and mental crisis. He was surprised by the deep empathy people felt for Anna and Count Vronsky (one of the protagonists) and the decisions they made throughout the story. Tolstoy was baffled by our tendency to justify erratic decisions; despite our ability to act rationally, we often choose what pleases us instead. He then wrote Confessions, an essay exploring the meaning of life. Tolstoy argued that, no matter how comfortable a circumstance or a feeling may be, he still felt meaningless: “…Then this play of lights and shades, the play of the comical, the tragic, the moving, the beautiful, and the terrible elements in life had comforted me. But when I saw that life was meaningless and terrible the play in the mirror could no longer amuse me. No matter how sweet the honey, it could not be sweet to me, for I saw the dragon and the mice gnawing away at my support.” Decades after, he wrote What is Art?, in which he emphasizes the notion that art and beauty should be intertwined with meaning and not only emotions, serving as a transformative catalyst for serving to humankind.
In Judeo-Christian tradition, there is a similar call: be spiritually and psychologically transformed. It also warned us about purely putting focus on beauty (or anything else) before God. We find in scripture: “your heart was proud because your beauty (yof-ee); you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor…” (Ezekiel 28:17a), or else, “charm is deceitful, and beauty (yof-ee) is vain…” (Proverbs 31:30a). Despite we find beauty in a symphony, a painting, a song, a movie, a baby goat or a delicate and sweet child, in the long run, our hearts and minds could become hardened or simply still be lost. Beauty then might offer us temporary solace but it does not provide meaning, or else, long-term peace. In a world characterized by uncertainties, beauty might become ambiguous when our desires are lost in translation. Without meaning, beauty is a fragile, ephemeral, and perhaps just of a hedonic nature. It is likely that solely relying on beauty to fulfill us, we run the risk of isolation and superficiality. It is urgent, then, that we delve deeper and introspectively question our motivations and desires. What are we truly seeking?
The good news is still there: God wants us to experience beauty. In Psalm 50:2a, God’s desire for us to experience beauty is evident: “From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth.” This illuminates a profound insight – when we view the world through the lens of God’s perspective, beauty reveals itself. Whether experiencing nature or human creativity, we find a daily reminder that God is with us, humiliating and searching for us. The context in which we live in this world takes a back seat and we are able to order our loves in the most tender way. Just as God bestowed the rainbow upon Noah as a symbol of covenant, let beauty serve as the guiding attribute that enables us to fully embrace the profound covenant of God and therefore, Jesus’s sacrifice and character, the Summum bonum.
Beauty: A call for transformation
There is no specific guideline for creating an “ideal” to experience meaning and beauty. However, one thing is certain: beauty devoid of meaning is merely a fragmented revelation, a splendid yet isolated piece of the puzzle. As R. C. Sproul reminds us, it is only one of the expressions of God’s holiness along with Goodness and Truth. If we just can clinch the Summum bonum, beauty becomes that power though which we gradually to know God. Because beauty is accessible to everyone, it can transform complex challenges into simple solutions, or else not look for solutions at all. Whenever we experience beauty there is no need to have aspirational dreams such as traveling around the world, experiencing as many activities as we can or setting a special plan to get everything that we want. Experiencing beauty is a transformative, an assistive force rather than an end. By embracing beauty under the Summum bonum, we find ourselves closer to a feeling of gratitude and thankfulness for the world we live in. Beauty transports us to a different place, yet without departing from our reality, because it is reality. Rather than seeking power, beauty might reveal our powerlessness and a necessity to be humbled. Perhaps, beauty is just the art of encountering our naked selves in the presence of God’s touch.
The experience of beauty is not about chasing grand dreams or indulging in countless activities; rather, it’s about finding consolation in the innate goodness and truthfulness of God’s creation. Whenever beauty fills us with awe, we are reminded of the divine craftsmanship that surrounds us. Whether in nature, social activities, jobs, leisure or process of creativity, it’s a humbling realization that the beauty we witness is beyond our control—it’s a gift, a reflection of God’s love. In those moments of contemplation, we are prompted to set aside our worries and concerns, just being in an appreciative and frugal state. In beauty we are shown that there is an ultimate meaning, but above all a call for transformation in our hearts and deeds. Let the Spirit of God shine in us and prepare us to be beautiful (Revelation 21:2).
Felipe is from Chile and is co-founder of the Cornell Faith & Environment Collective. He is a PhD student in Natural Resources and the Environment at Cornell, a Fulbright Fellow, and a Veritas Forum Early Career Scholar. His academic interests are linked to the role of subjective indicators and philosophical underpinnings in evaluating sustainable development. He enjoys reading philosophy and politics, playing music, hanging out with friends, being in nature, and the gym.