Beauty – Touching the Divine

In today’s installment, I will complete my discussions of the 10 Christian Practices that healthy mainline/liberal congregations tend to embrace (as articulated by Diana Butler Bass in Christianity for the Rest of Us). For review, the 10 practices are: hospitality, discernment, healing, contemplation, testimony, diversity, justice, worship, reflection, and beauty.

Dr. Bass connects the experience of beauty with touching the divine. She writes mostly about some of the ways that congregations use sanctuary design, music, liturgy, and art as integral parts of worship. I want to broaden the concept somewhat.

On February 18, 2009, I wrote in this blog (What Gives Life Meaning?) that meaningful human experience distills into three fundamental elements: creativity, the ability to appreciate beauty, and healthy relationships with self, others, God, and the rest of creation. Today I want to expand on the ability to appreciate beauty, although in a way, all three can be part of the same human experience.

I begin with the notion that in the search for connection with the divine, words and intellect can only take us so far. In worship, while the well-crafted sermon can stimulate thinking and give ways to connect the religious world with the practical problems facing people in their daily lives, more is needed to help us towards that connection with the divine. Beautiful sanctuaries, banners, music liturgy and ritual communicate to deeper parts of us. But the divine power of beauty is certainly not confined to worship. Creation itself communicates beauty to us in many ways. Here are two broad categories.

There is so much beauty in nature that touches and heals human souls: a quiet lake, majestic mountains, or the fragile and courageous opening of a blossom. Beauty exists in the large and in the small. By the way, the film, Microcosmos, demonstrates the diverse beauty in the very small world of insects and other creatures. We all have benefited from the beauty of creation. Of course, we miss the opportunity if we don’t keep our eyes open to it.

The second category is the beauty that comes from human creativity and relationship. We affirm that we are created in the image of God, even though we don’t exactly know what we mean by the statement. Creativity is one of the characteristics that we attribute to the divine, so, perhaps our ability to be creative is an expression of divine creativity. One might say that being creative is one of the legitimate purposes for our lives. Whenever we engage in creativity, we add some beauty to the world, and we increase the chances for others to appreciate the beauty in all creation. In this way we participate in touching the divine.

Too much world energy goes into the manufacture of “stuff” that soon becomes trash. True beauty does not come from the domination of the natural world. True beauty comes from the creative relationship between the spirit of imagination in the person and the life energy of the natural world. We have a sacred opportunity to touch the divine whenever we participate in that relationship. Furthermore, the creation of beauty is very sustainable. It produces abundance, not scarcity. Look around you. In today’s world, which do you think we need more?

So touch the divine and make sure there are many ways for it to happen within the life of the congregation.

Wayne Gustafson
“God is still speaking.”
The United Church__ of Christ