“Thoughts On ‘Beauty’” is one of a 12 part series of posts reflecting on the songs of Julia Wade’s CD, Solos, with lyrics from the writings of Mary Baker Eddy and Music by Peter Link.

The whole nature of beauty, especially in America today, has gotten confused.  Open most magazines, surf the internet, for that matter, type in the word “beauty images” into any search engine and just see what comes up – skinny female models with very few clothes on, half the references involve make-up of some sort.

Now I like pretty girls as much as the next guy, but it was 14 pages of the same models until I saw a picture of an elderly beautiful lady or a beautiful African or Indian woman.  There were no men whatsoever – no flowers, no trees, no children, no animals, no sunsets, nothing besides models and their make-up.

Are men not beautiful anymore?  Aren’t children beautiful?  Is it just models?  I’ve met a number of models in my day and though they were mostly attractive people, the key word that always struck me way before ‘beauty’ was ‘ego’.  Also they rarely looked in normal life like they did in their magazine pictures once their make-up artists had doctored them.

So I decided to take a look at this much-maligned word through more spiritual eyes and perhaps do my small part in righting the balance of understanding.

The song commences with this statement of Truth.

The recipe for beauty
is to have less illusion
and more Soul.

Here is the essence of what we have gotten away from in our materialistic society.  Not all models are airheads, but I’ve found that many so-called beautiful women that I’ve known have gotten through life so often on their looks that not much else has developed.  By the way, the same goes for “beautiful” men.  In a way, it’s not their fault.  Their good looks are so powerful that they never had to exercise their brains or their talents and so once you get past the initial wow, there’s just not that much left to hold your interest.

A strong disclaimer:  Of course this is a generalized statement.  Not all models are airheads; not all beautiful people are boring once you get past their looks. 

Let’s move on to what beautiful is all about before I get myself into trouble.

Comeliness and grace
are independent of matter.
Beauty is a thing of life,
which dwells forever in the eternal Mind
and reflects the charms of His goodness
in expression, form,
outline, and color.

I knew a 75-year old Irish Catholic priest who was one of the most beautiful men I ever met.  He reflected “the charms of His goodness” in a most wondrous way.  I was enraptured by the golden child of an American man and his Asian wife the other day.  She was 5-6 months old and radiated a perfection “in expression, form, outline, and color’ that I found so riveting that I could not look away for fear of missing something spectacular.

I watched the sun set over New Jersey (yes, New Jersey) the other night – across the river in the rose and splashes of light from my 38^th floor balcony.  It was so cold I was shivering, but I couldn’t leave and go inside to the warmth of my apartment for the beauty that surrounded me.

I found a chord progression to this song that made my heart leap and my soul quake as I thanked God for the gift of music.

These moments had no illusion.  They were the real things – soul filled and truly beautiful.

It is Love
Love which paints the petal
It is Love
with myriad hues,
glances in the warm sunbeam,
arches the cloud with the bow of beauty,
blazons the night with starry gems,
and covers earth with loveliness.

I’m not sure there’s anything to add to this verse.  Read it again and let’s move on.

Love, redolent with unselfishness,
bathes all in beauty and light.

I think herein lies the clue.  The word “redolent” is not a word we use much these days.  It means aromatic, having a strong pleasant odor.  How prescient of Mrs. Eddy to put ‘redolent’ with ‘unselfishness’ – having the perfume of unselfishness.

So much of the confusion of beauty today surrounds itself with selfishness.  There is no ‘self’ absorption in beauty.  Beauty is a thing of life, which dwells forever in the eternal Mind and reflects the charms of His goodness …  When one is beautiful or some thing is beautiful it simply reflects.  It does not own.  It cannot take the credit as if the beauty was self created.

Comeliness and grace
are independent of matter.

Beauty too, is independent of matter.  Matter can sometimes be the means of communication, but it is Love that … bathes all in beauty and light.  The body, the physical ball of fire called the sun, the field of grass, even the face of the baby hold not the beauty.  The beauty simply passes through – coming from the grace of God and recognized in the hearts and minds of man.

Our first verse bears repeating as a final thought:

The recipe for beauty
is to have less illusion
and more Soul.