Beauty

Semi-precious gemstones: quartz, amethyst, blue topaz, spinel, Photo by Mauro Cateb (CC-BY-SAS-3.0)

What exactly is beauty? Painters, poets, philosophers, and lovers have pondered that question through the ages.

The Ancient Greeks believed the “golden ratio” governed beauty, i.e. that buildings, sculptures, even men and women, were most pleasing to the eye, if their proportions were such that a ratio between the whole and the larger of its parts was identical to the ratio between the larger and smaller parts.  This relationship is expressed numerically as phi (the “golden number”) or 1.61803.  The Parthenon, the building perhaps most imitated worldwide, is the exemplar for this.

During the Renaissance, artists and architects consciously adopted the “golden ratio” to achieve beauty in their works.

Modern scientists have taken up where Renaissance artisans left off.  They have found surprising evidence that mathematical ratios govern our view of perfection; that human beings are hard wired to respond to facial symmetry, and the relation of body parts to one another in a potential mate. “Golden ratio” design software is now available.

All this relates to the kind of beauty which is fleeting. Beauty of the soul – integrity, courage, faith, compassion, self-sacrifice – cannot be measured by such a standard. Beauty of soul lies in the knowledge and obedience of God. Like wisdom, therefore, it is beyond price.

“It cannot be purchased for gold,
Nor can silver be weighed for its price.
It cannot be valued…
In precious onyx or sapphire…
No mention shall be made of coral or quartz,
For the price of wisdom is above rubies.
The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it…” (Job 28: 15-16, 18-19).

Lord God, You are arrayed in splendor, and the beauty of holiness.  May that beauty shine upon us, to establish the work of our hands.

We have so little to offer You in return. Even the work in which we take such pride cannot be accomplished without You.

More than silver or gold, more than rubies or pearls, may our lives and our work truly honor You.

Amen

READERS CAN FIND MY VIEWS ON ABUSE AND ABUSE-RELATED ISSUES AT ANNA WALDHERR A Voice Reclaimed, Surviving Child Abuse  http://www.avoicereclaimed.com