I have one of the best home teacher’s ever! We are totally enamored with the gospel and, we look at things pretty much the same way. I affectionately call him “handsome” and, he lovingly refers to me as “Princess” [which I think he’s right on target in that one!!] Nearly a week ago, we were trying to set up a date to meet and in his e-mail he posed a few interesting queries. Here they are:
“I have been pondering what make some things pretty or beautiful and others not so. Is it our culture that tells us that or do we bring something with us from the other side that tells us some things a beautiful? Do we teach our children that sunsets a beautiful or do they intuitively know that before they even have the language to express it? I am also not sure how important physical beauty will be in the life to come. At the end of the creation of this world,... Does that mean we will all be good looking? Just don't know and perhaps beauty is not all that important.”
The word Beauty in and of itself is vast! I think the dictionary should simply direct us to a Thesaurus! It truly can’t be properly, sufficiently or precisely defined.
Pondering on my friend’s questions several scripture verses come to mind.
Isaiah 53:2 For he [referring to Christ] shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
Moroni 10:6 And whatsoever thing is good [beautiful]is just and true; wherefore, nothing that is good denieth the Christ, but acknowledgeth that he is.
Psalms 90:17 17 And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands
Psalms 96:9 O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.
Let me start with a few anecdotes. I remember well my very uninhibited and loud--yet classy grandma, Esperanza, [Hope, in english which she hated] shattering our quiet, intense concentration as we watched Miss America or listened to a new Beatle song that would suddenly come on the radio as my dad drove us in his bronze-colored Pontiac to some fun outing, or/and especially, when she’d take us to get our yearly new Easter dress at Zody’s [yes, that actually was our JC Penny in the 60’s and 70’s] say, with her booming voice, so we’d all get her message and adamant viewpoint, “Lo que es feo, es feo!” [translation, “What’s ugly is ugly!”] I’d sigh, and the brat in me would start singing “I Want to Hold your Hand” like a broken record just to irritate her most of the time, cause I actually liked the song, too.
There are many things that play into what Beauty is—in my understanding. I believe culture, environment, our genes and family roots add to it. Also, pre-mortal gifts and talents, that which we are exposed to on a daily basis and desires, these all become a part of us.
Let me share a few examples as to the broad meaning of Beauty and, how different we think of Beauty.
My sister Liza always loved desert animals. She had an iguana, lizards, a huge black, hairy tarantula, four noisy turtles and a few others of what I viewed and still view as eeeky. To me, they are creatures that have no personality. I’d tell her, “Liza, they’re purpose-less creatures.” Yikes! She’d give me a Darwin preaching like you’ve never heard before!
Secondly, my mama. Wonderful as she was, she’d make this dish she named “Cuban goulash.” Sorry Mama [if you’re reading this], it was absolutely nasty looking, [in capitals, UG-LY! Grandma would scold her on her poor food presentation. Mr.Peacemaker, my grandpa, he’d fix it all by saying: “Who cares, it’s all going to the same place.” Infuriation followed. Lastly, I have a friend who loves funerals! She tells me, “Oh, Debbie, it’s so beautiful to see all the beautiful flowers, hear the family stories and reminicing, there’s just so much serenity.” I look at her teary eyes and think to myself, “Good Lord girl! Go to Rose Hills! Go to a museum! What the h**!” Okay, grant you, I can see where she’s coming from but I certainly wouldn’t use the word beautiful to refer to a funeral. This is where I believe we misuse the word Beauty/Beautiful. It just goes to show you, beauty can’t be succinctly defined by one person’s statement since so many elements come together.
On the other side of this coin, I definitely think, there are standards, rules, parameters, and other guidelines in the world of art, music, literature, architecture, sculpting, landscaping, etc. that teach us how to see or hear or do certain things that may often be obscure to us due to not being familiarized with that particular art/talent and which can certainly help us value and appreciate what is new to us.
Are we born with natural inclinations to understand and detect and that draw us to what is beauty? I wholeheartedly shout yes! Why? Because we are children of Heavenly Parents who are filled with Love and love is beauty as beauty is love. We should remember however that we also have dormant talents that hopefully we take the necessary time and discipline to develop.
In nature, to me, there are degrees [if I could say it this way] of beauty. A weed or thorn cannot be penned in the same column as an orchid or apple blossom. Is beauty important? Here again, beauty can be defined as good, orderly, holiness, cleanliness, serenity, and so on. Consider on how long it takes to prepare for the building of a temple and having the right materials; artisans, property, and a thousand other details! Why are we taught on clothing styles and what type of art and music, books, and even that of speech and tone we should use? Simply because we are to make of our surrounding a heaven and haven that will invite the Spirit, even that of Jesus Christ himself.
Could you just picture yourself getting to paradise and seeing the receiver in a pair of ratty jeans, spiked hair and a dog choker or hearing in the background Mick Jagger singing, “I can’t get no satisfaction” ? I don’t think so. Repulsive!
Physical beauty, will it matter? I don’t think our natural eyes see as clearly as will our spiritual eyes. The scriptures teach that there’s no way we can imagine the beauty that exist in the telestial kingdom, even less the terrestrial and celestial! (D&C 76) This teaches me that there are degrees of beauty, that as mortals we aren’t equipped to properly measure or understand and therefore, see true beauty as we one day will.
Forgive me, but, since we are on the topic of physical beauty, I have to add, not all names invoke beauty, i.e. Snoop Doggie or Lady Ga-ga! These provoke in me a “natural” desire to puke. And, what the heck is so beautiful in a walking scarecrow with bleached hair glued down with who knows what and puffy lips with a few pounds of gloss? Last time I remember watching Dr. Phil, that was called anorexia! Good grief, what is this world coming to!
Genesis 1
4And God saw the light, that it was agood...
10And God called the dry land aEarth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
21And God created agreat whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
25And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
31And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very agood. And the evening and the morning were the bsixth day.
In a chapter of 31 verses God pronounces 5 times everything He has made as good and lastly “very good.” I believe we could easily replace the word GOOD into BEAUTIFUL ! What do you think?
2 comments:
I've never considered myself one of the great beauties of this world. It was a little child of about 4 years who taught me what beauty was. He and I had a special bond- very similar to a mother/son. We were sitting in church one Sunday and a sweet, physically beautiful girl asked the boy to sit next to her. He refused and I asked why he didn't want to sit next to such a pretty girl. He looked up at me with complete honesty and said, "You're prettier." I learned that true beauty really comes from love.
Hi Angel;
Having married a man from a different culture, I'd have to say that it is a combination of what we came into this world with, and cultural norms as well. In Polynesian Islands, REALLY big people are considered the most beautiful. In Mauritiana, a man is not acceptable unless he is very thin. In african tribes, the tatoos and raised skin decorations are beautiful. But there is that spark of God that came into this world with us, that puts us in awe at the sunset, or the flowers, or a ray of sun shining in visible streams.
Ugliness does have it's place. How would we know beauty if we did not have ugliness to compare it to? How would we know good if we did not have pain and discomfort and evil to compare it to? So I embrace all in this life, good and bad, ugly and beautiful, thinking that in the next world, I may never see ugly things again, and if that's so, what will compare with "beautiful"?
I also agree that we will all be seen as beautiful in the next life and/or in the millennium, for people will not be looking just with their physical eyes, but with their souls, and they will see those things in us which are beautiful. The rough edges that have been polished off through trials in life.
Hugs,
Sheila
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