BEAUTY – Part 2: Finding Beauty

I. The Joining of Immaterial and Material

Beauty is comprised of both order and surprise. One of the most orderly and surprising
things in existence is us! Humans are fascinating to other humans, and for good reason.
What is this creature that is a combination of angel and beast; a mind expressing itself
through a mouth; an immortal will shaping the world through hands and feet? An embodied
spirit, the invisible lived through the visible, is a strange and lovely thing. This is why it
makes sense that we would delight in other orderly and surprising unions of the material and
immaterial. In other words, we find beauty whenever truth or goodness takes physical form.
It’s a fine thing to know the definition of a hero, or to recognize that heroism is a demand of
the moral life, but nothing compares to a story of heroism, to the concrete image of a man or
woman who gives up great goods for the sake of a greater good. For instance, I think I know
what it means to be a good father, and I want to be a good father; but when I heard the true
story of a good father who drowned in a septic tank while he saved his son’s life by holding
him up above the filth – I was blown away.

 How is the Incarnation the ultimate example of beauty (see CCC 477)?

II. Surprising Order

Let’s look at another example of truth and goodness taking visible form. Christian parents
know they’re supposed to trust God with their kids, and they probably want to trust God with
their kids, but the following concrete image of trust in divine providence will actually move
them to their core:
Do you remember, my sweet, absent son, / How in the soft June days forever done /
You loved the heavens so warm and clear and high / And when I lifted you, soft came your
cry – / “Put me ‘way up - ‘way, ‘way up, in the blue sky”? / I laughed, and said I could not,
and I set you down / Your gray eyes wonder-filled beneath that crown /
Of bright hair gladdening me as you raced by. / Another Father now, more strong than I, /
Has borne you voiceless to your dear blue sky.
(George Parsons Lathrop, “The Child’s Wish Granted”)
Again, it’s the astonishing rightness (that is, the surprising order) of the father’s attitude in this
concrete circumstance that makes such a brief poem almost unbearably beautiful.
 What stood out to you the most in this poem? Why?

III. Beauty in the Arts

These examples demonstrate precisely what the arts are designed to do: incarnate order and
surprise in something sensible or imaginable. It is then that we get delight in truth and in
goodness, a delight in which our body shares, whether through the rush of blood or a tingle on
the skin. CCC 2501 states that “art is a form of practical wisdom, uniting knowledge and skill, to
give form to the truth of reality in a language accessible to sight or hearing”. Again, beauty
comes to us through the senses – it’s precisely when we visualize or listen to a profound reality
embodied in some physical form that we take pleasure, body and soul. Hence Aquinas’ famous
description of beautiful things as “those which please when seen” (ST, I, q5, a4).

 What is your favorite piece of art (visual or audio), and why is it beautiful?
IV. Beauty versus Entertainment
Beauty leads us to rest in and celebrate the goodness of reality – like reaching the summit of a
mountain and seeing the breathtaking view. Entertainment is not the same as beauty – in fact,
entertainment is an escape from reality. Just as true art seeks to create an image of order and
surprise, entertainment seeks to create an image of order without surprise, or surprise without
order. An example of the first case would be most superhero movies which offer the same old
predictable plot with no surprise (which is boring). Examples of the second case would be horror
movies or pornography, which offer perverse surprises that are dis-ordered. Beauty demands
deep insight which requires discipline and effort. Entertainment demands nothing – no work, no
insight, and no attentiveness – which is precisely why it does not feed the soul. In fact,
entertainment drains the soul (now you know why you feel empty and have less energy after
binge watching something). True beauty makes reality more exciting, and entertainment makes
reality boring.

 What are some reasons we are tempted to escape reality?

 Why is it essential to encounter reality in its fullness (see John 8:31)?

V. Breaking the Addiction to Entertainment

We are addicted to entertainment because it is a masquerade of order and surprise – how do
we break this addiction? The main way we receive beauty is through sight and sound, which is
also the way we feed our addictions to entertainment. Therefore, to break our addictions we
need the discipline of silence and stillness. The practice of silence and stillness tempers our
addictions to entertainment and sharpens our ability to receive beauty through sight and sound.
Since addictions are routines, a practical way to break these bad routines would be to watch no
videos by way of TV, phone, or computer one day a week (let me suggest Friday, since this was
the day the Lord suffered for us). Then every Sunday, sit or walk outside for fifteen minutes and
talk to God while you do so, being attentive to all the beauty around you, thanking Him for what
you see and hear. (If you want to take it a step further – limit your video and sound to some
degree every day, and every day spend fifteen to thirty minutes outside talking to God and
thanking Him for the beauty of His creation.)

 When do you experience silence and stillness in your daily life?

 Why is silence important for our relationship with God (see CCC 2717)?
 Resolution: Commit to one change from this discussion and share a resolution
you would like to accomplish between now and the next time your group meets.