Like so many words, we most often use beautiful in the wrong way. Beauty is not merely the aesthetic value of the thing. Nor is it dependent on individual perception, though Postmodernism would have you believe it of beauty, as of every important concept. Beauty is found deeper than surface and appearance; it is not because she has a pretty face that Belle is the Beauty. That saying that beauty is only skin-deep is entirely wrong. It is found in the attitude of the heart and what comes out of it, in the emotional resonance. It is not perceived but received and experienced. Nor can true beauty fade, it transcends time and circumstance. Theologian Thomas Aquinas said, “beauty is that which pleases in the very apprehension of it” because it is appealing at the level of the soul – it is not really your eye that beholds it.
Such grand claims; last week you called a piece of cake beautiful. Well, the cake was attractive, and both your eyes and your taste buds found it appealing, but nothing more happened there. Beauty is such a lofty concept because it is a reaction to truth and goodness, that is, God-given realities manifested in ways that bring about human flourishing. In fact, beauty requires truth and goodness to be present: the humanitarian worker feeding a starving child is beautiful, the Hollywood celebrity posing on the red carpet in a glittering dress is not. One is life-giving, the other is ego-feeding.
In a world marred by human pride, beauty is seeing the narrative of redemption and restoration. Ecclesiastes 3:11, “He has made everything beautiful in its time.” We are broken, beauty is those glimpses of wholeness and reconciliation – a filial relationship mended, a true friend made. Beauty should be life-changing, it should call you to seek it out and experience it. If truth is a monolith and goodness an action, beauty is a heart response to seeing these.
Alas, your perception of beauty can be tainted and most of the world apparently operates on the wrong definition. Because it is a reaction, preserving beauty actually means protecting yourself. It is not the sake of rules that the Apostle Paul says “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” What you imbibe tends to come out of you, so measure your intake of the less noble things. You’ve also got to intentionally put good things in: one of the best ways to dwell in beauty is to seek the Lord. Try prayer, your free participation in the unique relational dynamic of the Trinity, and praise, recollecting how much the Lord values you and what He has done to seek you out.
Works Cited:
Fred Liggin, 17 April 2018 Lecture of GENE 150: The True, the Good, and the Beautiful, Regent University.
Sam Allberry, Connected: Living in the Light of the Trinity (P&R Publishing, Kindle Edition), chapters 8 and 9 or pages 155 and 168.