As a native New Englander, fall is my favorite season. Once the school year is under way, I look forward to the cooler weather, the beauty of the changing leaves and the smell of woodsmoke wafting from a backyard or a chimney. I also have wonderful memories of fall, the most special being the 10 consecutive years that my family and I visited Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor, Maine. I have travelled all over the world, and I still consider Acadia to be the most beautiful place that I have ever experienced. From silvery birches waving in the breeze, stunning ocean vistas and pristine sand beaches, to the profound stillness of Jordan Pond and the earliest sun rise in the United States (atop Cadillac Mountain), Acadia is a place to be experienced, savored and cherished by all who love God's beauty.What I have noticed over the last several years is how little the concept of beauty is actually discussed in print, on the air, over the internet or, especially, in academia. Please understand I am not talking about the posting of various salacious photos of Hollywood starlets or hunks on magazine covers or internet sites. Although the word "beautiful" may be used in those instances, the attendant articles or photo captions could hardly be considered a discussion of "beauty" any more than the participants in the average television reality series could be considered as serious actors, Olympic sportsmen or doctoral candidates in theology or philosophy. What I am talking about is a reflection upon what constitutes beauty, how it is beheld and how it is in some way memorialized for others to share. Whether through visual painting, photography, music, video, sculpture, poetry, literature, speech, dance, theatre, or various combinations thereof, God has given us many tools to express our awe, wonder and gratitude as we experience the beauty he has placed in our lives.
It seems our modern culture shies away from this discussion. In our ever more individualistic society, we have taken "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" to mean that no one's concept of beauty can be translated to anyone else and therefore we cannot burden anyone else with our views on beauty. I would argue that a better interpretation of the phrase would be one in which I, as beholder of a beauty, have an obligation to experience that beauty and as it rests in "my eye" then have an obligation to find a way to assist others in appreciating such beauty. However, we are losing the ability to appreciate beauty and the vocabulary necessary to share it.
For much of our culture's history, the artist has been the individual who attempted to capture or express that beauty in a way that others could appreciate it. Recently, and in line with our cultural shift to individuality, artists seem preoccupied with creating ever more abstract and individualistic forms of art, further distancing themselves from the world God created. This may be because admiring and expressing an already existent thing of beauty focuses attention on God the Creator rather than the artist as creator. It could also be because we are losing a common language of beauty because we do not study, understand and admire the concept.
At the same time that artists are becoming less accessible, lay individuals have been given the technological tools to dabble in the arts. (Think iPhoto, GarageBand, YouTube, and my personal favorite, Karaoke.) Although these technological advances allow all of us to be a little more creative and expressive, and that is wonderful, they should not be used as substitutes for artistic beauty. My vacation photos bear little resemblance to the grandeur and majesty portrayed in Ansell Adams photographs and my stick figure drawing will not be mistaken for Andrew Wyeth's simple, elegant artistic expression.
For me, music comes closest to expressing the inexpressible, but even I would not contend that listening to a musical depiction of Acadia could replace the actual experience of being there. Music can be memory or supplement. It can heighten, deepen or expand the experience. It can even bring the beauty back to the "mind's eye". For instance, the most beautiful depiction of the Creation that I know is in C.S. Lewis' "The Magician's Nephew" where Aslan (the allegorical Lion representing Jesus Christ) sings the world into existence. That description has tremendously deepened my understanding and appreciation of Creation, but it is not a substitute for having been there. However, someday we will be "there" and truly be able to comprehend creation.
I believe beauty exists here in this world to give us a taste, a glimpse, a momentary exhilaration, a brief touch of Eternity with our Father. It exists to excite us about what is to come and to deal with what is. It is to be experienced, understood and shared. We yearn for that: don't you get great joy when you share art, music, a great book or a great meal with someone? Isn't that a deeper, more satisfying experience than merely writing emails or talking about the weather or grocery sales prices? Saving money or being prepared for rain later today are both good things, but they are "beautiful" things and so they are farther removed from the beauty of Eternity that we all long for.
We need to make certain our children are capable of recognizing, appreciating and discussing beauty. They will not experience a full life or truly comprehend God's love without it. It is not a topic for People magazine, but something that must be part of the school curriculum, the church calendar and the home dinner table.
In the meantime I will return for a moment, even if only in my mind's eye, and experience the elegant splendor of Acadia and dream of a time when the temporal beauty of that place will not end on the evening the first Nor'easter blows the leaves off of the trees for this year.
