Beauty Will Save the World

Dear Friends in Christ,

 

Beauty will save the world. So wrote Fyodor Dostovesky. And so I have come to believe, too, after being shaped by a lifetime of Anglican liturgy.

 

When we think of the things we need to exist on this planet, beauty may not top the list. We are more likely to name compassion, tolerance, patience, or understanding. And yet beauty creates a particular kind of saving grace. It is a glimpse of the divine order, a revelation of God’s wonder. It shows us what we hope for in a better world—and, in so doing, it sustains us while we wait for that world to come.

 

As a child, I hungered for beauty. I made and studied art; I read and wrote poetry. My hunger was fed not only by paintings and books, but by the worship services I attended each Sunday. I loved to watch the light slant through the windows. I loved the poetry of Rite 1. (I still do.) I loved to listen to Bach, even long before I knew who Bach was.

 

We need beauty still, all of us. So much of our world is ugly. Climate change threatens to take away the refuge of nature. Political discourse is aggressive and coarse. Commercial culture drives our media diet. There is little to feed our souls.

 

I encourage you, as a spiritual practice this Advent, to seek out beauty. Whether it is Bach or bluegrass, Shakespeare or Sondheim or just the painting that you love in the upstairs hallway, spend some time in harmony, delight, and wonder. If God is to be incarnate among us, such experiences are part of how we prepare a place for him.

 

I especially invite you to join us on Sunday, December 7, at 5:00 p.m. for our Lessons and Carols service. It provides a chance to encounter not manufactured Christmas cheer but the deep and transcendent presence of God among us.

 

May you find beauty, and may you find salvation.

 

Yours in Christ,
Anne+