The Good Table At Home: Where Do You Find Beauty?
Spiritual Touchstone
Just Another Blog about Beauty?
by Rev. Dr. Melinda V. McLain
As an undergraduate music major in the early 80’s, I first became acquainted with a remarkable book entitled, “Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid” or the “GEB”. This Pulitzer Prize winning tome continues to challenge and excite folks from many fields because it makes connections between mathematics, art, and music in an effort to find the links between them. The book also anticipates the algorithmic thinking that underlies much of our digital world, and is a well-thumbed volume among those working in artificial intelligence.
When I first read it, I was fortunate to have friends who understood the math of it. Even then I wondered if mathematically “perfect” music is more beautiful. As an organ major, I was playing a lot of Bach and it did seem to exhibit a certain perfection. Still, there was so much music I loved that did not exhibit “the golden ratio” in a way that could be easily discerned, so it failed the “perfection is beauty” test for me. Ancient philosophers also tended to think of beauty in mathematical terms and “GEB” put that notion to rest for me.
And yet, most of us find some measure of beauty in nature whether it is gazing at the ocean, a flower, or a fully-ripe peach. In GEB, Hofstadler includes many calculations of “perfection” in nature from the precise proportions in a stalk of grass to the beautiful calculations that describe the harmonic series that undergirds all music. This is often referred to as “the golden ratio” or sometimes the “divine proportion” because it is so common in nature.
Dahlias are an example of flowers that often have the golden ratio
So what constitutes beauty in the world? Certainly it is in the eye of the beholder. But is there another way to define beauty that cuts through our individual preferences and touches the transcendent even if it doesn’t conform to the golden ratio?
For Christian mystics such as Julian of Norwich, beauty is found when we seek the holy and remember that no matter what our outward appearance or circumstance, we are all beloved in the eyes of the Creator. For zen practitioners, no belief in a God or Creator is required, but the effect is still the same: all beings are beautiful without exception and our separation from one another and creation is an illusion.
Where do you find beauty? What role does beauty play in your spiritual life?
Our worship and study series entitled “Beguiled by Beauty” continues this Sunday at 12n in Zoom. Send Pastor Melinda an email to receive login credentials and materials.
