Worshipping the One Who Is Beauty: Overcoming Evil with Small Acts of Beauty

Last updated on: February 3, 2017 at 12:15 pm by David Russell Mosley

Worshipping the One Who Is Beauty: Overcoming Evil with Small Acts of Beauty 2017-02-03T12:15:17-04:00 David Russell Mosley

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David Russell Mosley

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Photo by David Russell Mosley

Ordinary Time
St. Anskar 2017
The Edge of Elfland
Hudson, New Hampshire

Dear Readers,

My goodness. So many things have happened in the past two weeks that I don’t really know where to begin. After all, just today I’ve come across articles concerning President Trump’s first clandestine mission in Yemen which resulted in the death of a US soldier, an 8 year old girl, and numerous other men and women, many of them hostile to the United States. Then of course, there is the refugee ban executive order; the response of the refugee ban by the United States’ Roman Catholic bishops. Or we could talk about Trump’s statement about ratings at the Prayer Breakfast; or maybe his comments at the start of Black History Month (which some of my more conservative friends might want to notice he actually acknowledged). Then of course, there’s a recent article I read on what effect AI consciousness might have Christianity (bollocks from start to finish, by the way). There have been marches and protests and backlash and hatred and anxiety and love and confusion, and lies. I have thoughts about all of this and honestly don’t even know how to begin to explain it all.

Over the days and weeks to come I will continue to engage with what is going on in the world around us. It is important that we be alert (and to be clear, I would feel the same way if Clinton had won the election). I actually feel that one positive of a Trump presidency is that it is causing more and more people to actively engage in politics and pay attention to what’s going on in the world around us. But that’s not my focus today. Rather I want to focus on beauty.

In his The Divine Names, Denys writes, “Beauty ‘bids’ all things to itself (whence it is called ‘beauty’) and gathers everything into itself. And they name it beautiful since it is the all-beautiful and the beautiful beyond all” (DN 701C-701D). Later he writes, “The Beautiful is therefore the same as the Good, for everything looks to the Beautiful and the Good as the cause of being, and there is nothing in the world without a share of the Beautiful and the Good” (DN 704B). What Denys’ is teaching us is that Beauty is knit into the very fabric of reality. It is the cause of all things that exist for the one who is Beauty created all things that exist. This must give us hope!

We do not live in a world that is governed by chance. We live in a world governed by Beauty! Even the ugliest thing, the ugliest action in this world still has some participation in Beauty because it is, it exists and so participates in the One who is Being, who is Beauty, who is the Good, who is Truth. What’s more this means we can fight with Beauty. Beauty can and will help us in overcoming evil and injustice in this world.

I think particularly in our current climate it is the small acts of beauty that will have particularly important effects. It is the beauty of a family loving each other; the beauty of someone opening up their home to a stranger; the beauty of caring for a young pregnant girl; but also the beauty of a fresh-baked loaf of bread; the beauty of reading a good book; the beauty of growing your own food; the beauty of buying locally, of being a part of your local community. Even these small acts of beauty can and will help save the world. So go, do something beautiful, however small. For all beauty participates in the One who is Beauty.

Sincerely,
David

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