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Beauty
and God's Presence
November
11, 2007
Luke
20:27-38
Fr.
George Smiga
I
do not usually refer to Greek philosophy in my homilies. But
that does not mean that the great ideas of minds such as Plato
or Aristotle are irrelevant to the gospel. In fact, the teachings
of these founders of Western Civilization have been used by
the Catholic Church throughout the centuries to shape many
of the theological beliefs that we find in the catechism.
Their beliefs have also deeply influenced the thinking of
saints such as St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas. Moreover,
in today's gospel Jesus is arguing with the Sadducees over
two questions, which are central to Greek philosophy: Who
Is God? And what happens after death? Against the position
of the Sadducees, Jesus argues that after death there is a
resurrection from the dead. How does he argue this? From the
scriptures. He says that at the burning bush, God revealed
to Moses that God was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
All of these ancestors were dead. But if God was still their
God, they must, in some sense, still be alive. Because God
is not God of the dead but God of the living.
Now
I know this argumentation by Jesus is far from clear but its
conclusion is obvious. Our God is not God of the dead but
God of the living. We find God, not in death, but in life.
Conversely whenever we encounter life, we also encounter God's
presence. It is in life that we find the reflection of God.
Therefore life is a portal, a threshold to God.
But
where in life do we find God? That is a deeper question. Here
is where the Greek philosophers become useful. They thought
extensively about such questions. There was a consensus in
Greek philosophy that there were three places in life where
God was most clearly reflected: in that which was good, in
that which was true, and in that which was beautiful. Greek
philosophy believed that whenever you encountered goodness
in life, whether that was moral goodness or human goodness,
goodness was a reflection of God. Whenever you encountered
truth in life, whether that truth was correctness or responsibility
or honesty, in truth God was present. Whenever you encountered
beauty, beauty you could see or hear or touch, beauty was
a reflection of God.
Now
I think we regularly associate God with goodness and truth,
but how often do we associate God with beauty? This insight
is the new learning which results from my convoluted discourse
about Greek Philosophy and the gospel. Our God is a God of
life. And one of the places in life where God can be encountered
is in that which is beautiful. Beautiful things convey to
us the presence and the power of God. It is important that
we see beauty in that way.
So
here is my practical suggestion for the week: be attentive
to the beauty in your life. Be attentive this week to the
beautiful things you experience and do so with the religious
sense that in that beauty you encounter the living God. If
you by chance this week were to see one of our beautiful fall
sunsets, do not simply let its beauty enter your eye. Pause
and let it touch your heart. Then say to yourself, “God is
near.” If you stop in to check on your four year old son as
he sleeps, pause long enough to see in the beauty of his innocence
the truth that God is present. If you see two teen-agers walking
hand-in-hand in the mall, so connected and so unaware of what
yet still lies ahead, see in the beauty of their relationship
the truth that God is still with us. When you come to your
wits end, when you simply need a break from all of your responsibilities,
take a moment and walk in the park. Let the beauty that surrounds
you touch you. Or listen to a favorite piece of music and
sense in its beauty the love and power of God.
Use
such moments of beauty as a prayer, as a prayer which says:
Of all the things I experience today, let me not miss this
moment. For in the beauty of this moment I experience you,
Lord. I can touch your love and your strength. In this beauty
I can know that you are my God—not God of the dead, but God
of the living.
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