The Gift of Beauty

Beauty surrounds me.

I behold it as I gaze from my window at the lake and mountains of Washington. I see it in the majestic sky and clouds that hover above the scape. I feel it in the lungs that breath, the eyes that see, the heart that beats, the very fingers that magically know how to write these words. Above all I sense it in the Love which seeks my heart, and which I strive all my life to grasp.

I have learned to take all this beauty for granted. The pristine landscape no longer surprises me, for it has always been there. The fine-tuned working of my body does not shock me, for it has worked as long as I have been inside it. These things are supposed to be. But the functionality of nature and my own body are truly incredible. And as if that was not enough, they are also beautiful! Couldn’t the human body work just as well without its beauty? Would the world still turn if it was grotesque rather than lovely? Could it be that this beauty is a gift—the generosity of Love?

Why is there such a thing as pleasure? For some species, survival is enough to motivate them. Why are humans and some animals blessed with pleasure? Food would nourish our bodies just a well if the meal did not give pleasure. The tree gains no pleasure from its photosynthesis. Why do we have this opportunity? By all logic, our method of fueling ourselves should have been equally mundane. Similarly, our method of reproduction could have been one void of the pleasure and passion we encounter in it, yet this gift also has been given with no logical explanation. All the necessities of our survival could have been ordered without the benefit of pleasure. But they weren’t.

Take another example and consider the beauty of music. I have never met someone who did not love music. Certainly, our opinions and taste differ wildly. But everyone, in every culture, loves music, most of them almost to an addictive degree. Why is there such a thing as music? We may credit the musician and the composer only so far. Rather, consider the very existence of music, that sound-waves may be arranged in such patterns to become notes–that two and three can form into chords, and then into melody and harmony. Why is there such a thing? Whither these tools that tickle the composer’s imagination? Does the world need something like music to survive? If we had never known it would we miss it? Music is extraneous to survival. Is music also a gift?

Take the time to question the beauty all around you, and not just the more obvious things such as the human body, the mountains and lake and trees. But question also the beauty of water, of dirt, of your skin, of the air you breath and the act of breathing it. What do all these things mean? The unexplainable blessings we encounter all around us are very profound. We should not take for granted that we and our world are beautiful, that there is such a thing as music, that our very existence gives pleasure to our bodies and minds. This all should shock us. The gifts of our existence abound beyond our comprehension.

My life is a collection of gifts which I did not earn—gifts of beauty. The greatest of all is my own life—the very being of my body and soul, the simple “I am,” or in Latin, the sum of life. I did nothing to earn my life. I came as a result of my parents’ love, and they created me from the Love which encompasses all. Most of us take our lives for granted when we suffer and feel the gifts of beauty have eluded us. But if I possess any more beauty than my own life, that is a gift of bounty. I did not earn my life, and I certainly did not earn any gifts that add to my life!

Love is the explanation. We are here because of love. Love created us in its own image so that we might reciprocate that love. Beauty and pleasure were the gifts given by Love to enhance our lives. That we have come to expect these gifts and grown complacent in our appreciation for them is a terrible selfishness of humanity. How can we live a single day without gratitude for the Love which gave it to us? God is love, and love is the reason for creation.

And what of the sick, the oppressed, the anguished: what beauty and pleasure do they experience in their lives? Shall they not rightly feel bitterness for their fate? Who am I, free born and blessed, to tell the slave of the world’s beauty? The gift is no more my right than his, yet I have all and he has none but the life which he fain would lose. How can such a disparity be reconciled? How could the Love which gave us this life have allowed such suffering to fester? People are often quick to blame God for the world’s pain, but this is a horrendous displacement of responsibility. The reason for the suffering of the world is the greed of humanity. We have corrupted beauty and pleasure by giving in to an insatiable desire for it. Through this desire the free hoards beauty from the slave, the healthy from the sick, the strong from the weak, the rich from the poor, the privileged from the unlucky. And the Love which gave to all cries in despair.

Do not blame God for the world’s pain. God gave enough for all, even in times of disaster and famine. But human greed has interfered with Love’s bounty. Has there ever been a natural disaster in which there was not actually enough room to house all the displaced somewhere in the world, ever a famine when the world could not have fed all the hungry? Before you answer, glance at your vacant couch, or the empty plate at your table. The world’s suffering is not God’s fault. It is ours.

Charity is the act of sharing beauty, whether in the form of comfort, sustenance, or even pleasure. It is not the Creating Love which failed to give sufficient beauty for the world. Rather, it is the greedy who keep more than they need and let the rest live in hardship. Through generosity and charity we might hope to undo the damage done by our selfishness. We are made in the image of Love. And what is love but a gift? It is impossible to love without another to give it to. The whole human race is a community of love. What right have we to withhold our love from anyone?

How did we come this far, that our greed could have caused so much hardship? Why are we never content with our given measure of beauty and pleasure? We are born with an overwhelming desire to experience all the beauty we see and feel. My nature drives me out into the world to taste all its mysteries. But each day I return and the mystery remains unsolved. I try to grasp the beauty as my own but am always unsatisfied.

I find an idyllic meadow, cased in lush forest and clear sky. The beauty of it stuns me. I photograph it, but the picture cannot do justice to the reality. The next day I pick the daisies from the field hoping to light my dreary home with their splendor and smell, but by the time I return they are wilted and the odor is gone. So at last, not to be defeated, I buy the meadow, build a house on it, fence it off to prevent others from disturbing what is mine to enjoy, and I go to live there. But my lust has destroyed the meadow, both for myself and for others. Soon I return to the city, sorrowful and ashamed. Was I wrong to love the meadow’s beauty? If not, then how did I manage to ruin it?

Learning from my mistake in trying to own beauty, I seek instead the pleasure of experience, throwing myself into raucous revelry, gluttonness dining, taking pleasure in excess and debauchery. My eyes are enticed with entertainment, my taste with exotic food and wine, my body with lust… Each of my pleasures is an experience in beauty, but after I enjoy the moment I feel sick with the consequences, for I have perverted the beauty which was given to me.

These enticements seem like they will bring satisfaction, but it is only in the quest for them that I have any enjoyment. The pleasure ends with the deed. The achievements of my desires are hollow, only leaving me desirous for another quest. Why do I burn with such desire? Is there a void in my life? On the contrary, my blessings, my pleasures, my gifts of beauty are plentiful. I do not suffer from want, nor from an inability to satisfy my own desires. Yet I have felt the sickness of envy, which poisons the enjoyment of what one has. Why do the privileged feel more greed than the lowly? How curiously the affluent man observes the joy of the poor, for whom a simple meal and brief pleasure delights more than his own frenzied pursuits. The poor man is often happier, purer of heart, and comprehends better the true meaning of beauty. Yet would I willingly change my place with him? Would you? Stubbornly we adhere to our miserable paths, gathering beauty far beyond the measure of those who actually know it is beautiful.

There is something in all of our natures that strives toward the beautiful, but it is never content. The more of it we have, the harder it is to satiate. Beauty cannot be held in the hand if it is to last. Beauty must be left free, cherished, but never grasped. Is it the infinity of beauty or the infinity of our desire that overwhelms us? Indeed beauty is the infinite, so until we embrace its infinity, our desire will never be quenched. We do not simply seek to be a part in the infinity, but to grasp it all. Have we not all sought to make love, the ultimate beauty, infinite? The world makes a fantasy of romantic loves which transcend death. We dream of an infinite beauty with our infinite desire. But is it really impossibly? Our greed for beauty only leads to despair, but what about our greed for love? What if infinite love really did exist? Could love really be stronger than death? This is the meaning of our longing for beauty, and its unquenchability. It is the sign of love, and love is the closest the human heart can come to infinity. Beauty itself is a shadow of the divine. It gives us a hint of our Creator who gave us the gift of beauty in all its forms. In striving to own, to grasp, the things we see as beautiful, we are acting on our longing for the greatest beauty of all. In grasping for it we will never be satisfied. We must take our place in the world’s beauty, appreciating all but not attempting to control. We must stand willingly as a part of beauty’s infinity if we are to find any contentment.

We know that love cannot be contained if it is to flourish. It must be given before it can be received. We can see this truth with love, but it is just as true with beauty, which is nothing but a sign of love, the gift of Love. So too, beauty must be given, spread, if it is ever to be fully appreciated.

How did beauty become corrupted? How did it come to infect us with envy, lust and greed? How did it come to symbolize so much of what is wrong in the world? Is its very goodness a curse to those who lack it? No less is it a curse to those who have too much! Beauty is a gift from the world to each one of us. Whenever we seek to harness beauty and own it, we are perverting it. We did not earn it, so we have no right to clutch it lest we deny its wonder by reducing it to human greed. It is a lack of appreciation both for what we covet, and for our own lives without it. We reduce beauty’s value by trying to claim it as our own invention, our “right.” And we reduce our own value by noting any small absence of beauty when our life itself overshadows any other beauty. The very fact that we can see and breath and think is the most incredible thing of all. Sadly, few of us meditate on the simple gift of beauty that is our own life. Nor do we recognize that our infinite desire is satisfied in infinite love. Instead we give in to our greed, seeking to own, and beauty always fades in ownership. It is the freedom of being infinite that makes it beautiful.

What was it about the meadow that made me seek to own it rather than simply engrossing myself in its wonder? What is it about experience that does not content us until we have more? What is it about a beautiful person that inspires in us feelings of either lust or envy? Lust is the desire to “own” that person by taking them in a sexual way; envy is a desire to “own” that person’s characteristics. What prevents us from simply appreciating the beauty we see without any need to own it? We should see beauty as our chance to reflect upon the love which created it, not as a chance to own it. Our desire for beauty is insatiable. Our longing for the infinite is itself infinite. When we are hungry and feed ourselves, we are satisfied. When we thirst and drink, we are quenched. When we are weary and sleep, we are rested. But when we seek to satisfy our desire for beauty in pleasure, the longing persists, stronger with each bit of beauty we attempt to contain.

Is there another way? Can we satisfy our longing for beauty without attempting to own it? Why is everything around us so beautiful without our being able to hold it? Is it in our very natures not to be content? Seeking to possess beauty brings only pain to ourselves, others, and the world. It is a corruption of the gift we could never be valiant enough to deserve. Yet instead of seeking to possess it, if rather we seek to give beauty to others, a remarkable thing happens. Suddenly, we do begin to possess the beauty! In giving it away, we have mysteriously made it ours. Love and charity are very worthwhile investments.

Truly the only way to satisfy our insatiable longing for beauty is to accept our place within it—as a small cog in the infinite. Then perhaps we will realize how little we deserve, how much we are given, and how much more beautiful we will be by giving again what was given to us! There is enough beauty, enough love, enough goodness, for the whole human race. But only if we give back to the Love which gave so generously to us.

We are all made beautiful—in the image of the Love which created us. All our lives we long for this perfect beauty and perfect love. It is when striving alone that we hoard beauty as possessions, pleasures and experiences, and ever slip farther from the love we seek. But if we recognize the needs and the equally insatiable longing of our fellow companions, we begin to glimpse this love. If every human being was made in the image of Love, how can we get closer to Divine Love than by gazing into the heart of another human being? The gift of beauty was given, undeserved, to us. In giving this beauty to those more needy than ourselves– through kindness, compassion and charity—we at last see the divine, and experience the beauty we long have sought.

The face of God is written on every person you meet. If that man is needy and I have plenty, how can I withhold from him, for I am withholding from God? And surely, by sharing Love’s bounty we have made it ours. Only through love can beauty be held, and what is love, but an act of giving? Our desire for beauty is satisfied in love—the true love which outlasts even death. What a contradiction it would seem to seek only to be loved without giving love in return. So why do we seek to possess beauty as if it were only for us to take and never to give? For beauty is a descriptive manifestation of love. We must give it to have it. Just as we must love in order to accept the love which would be bestowed upon us. If we live lives of love we will truly be stronger than death. Love transcends earthly life.

This is the message of all tragic drama, from the Greeks, to Shakespeare, through the age of opera, and in our current age of cinema. The ideal of love is one which transcends death. The great lovers: Dido & Aeneas, Antony & Cleopatra, Romeo & Juliet, Tristan & Isolde…seek death’s infinity as the only way to cement their love. Through love, Plato says, “Mortal nature is seeking as far as is possible to be everlasting and immortal.” (Symposium) The stories of these lovers are not simply cliché. They tell us much about the human temperament, describing both our fear and our hope. That through love (beauty) we can achieve eternity, and the infinity of beauty. Our fear of losing love is worse than death and our gain of love is more important than life. Plato gives two answers to this longing for immortality: through generations of offspring, and through worldly fame that outlasts one’s lifetime. But Pope Benedict XVI points us back to our creator. “All love wants eternity, and God’s love not only wants it but effects it and is it. Man can [not] perish because he is known and loved by God.” (Ratzinger: Intro to Christianity. III, II, 2. 1968) Love is the culmination of all our desires, whether for beauty, pleasure or eternity.

But there’s more! Love is also the community of people within our immediate reach–not only our children, family, lovers and friends, but everyone with whom we come in contact. Love teaches us our basic dependence on the other. Love demands community, for what is love without the beloved? We are a species which thrives on each other. No human feels complete until they love. How glorious it is when we realize that the beloved comes in the form of all humanity! The more love you give, the more love you have, and the closer you come to the immortal—the divine.

Love is a way of living which unites one person, one soul to another, and unites both with the Love which created them. One act of love is actually threefold–the one that loves, that which is loved, and love itself. (St. Augustine: De Trinitate. VIII, 14) We often forget the importance of the last segment, that our loving relationships depend on a greater Love, indeed, the very Love which created us and gave us all these gifts.

If we need love—community—so badly, then so too does our Creating Love. Being made in the image of Love means we share this trait with our maker. Certainly, Divine Love seeks to be loved just as we do. It weeps for its beloved when betrayed, and overflows with joy when its creation loves in return. Without creating, Diving Love had nothing to return its love. Only through us was love reciprocated.

God was lonely. We are the benefactors. What a responsibility! What a joy! The Love which our Creator eagerly bestows on us is the greatest joy, the most perfect beauty we can hope for. Love itself offers us the chance to be called “Beloved.” How could we refuse such a beautiful, tender embrace? And all we must do to have such a joy is to offer our love to those with whom we share creation. God’s embrace is nearer than we think. It waits for us in the hearts of all those who with us were made in the image of love. Therefore, Beloved, let us love one another, just as God first loved us! (First John 4:7)