Beauty Will Save The World

I came across one of the most profound of quotes recently. It was written on the front of my friend Kristin's notebook,

"Beauty Will Save the World."

Though I was uncertain of its intended meaning, I loved that it resignated with something in me.

Kristin went on to tell me about a Russian author, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and his book, "The Idiot". In the book, the Prince is memorable for one of the most beautiful of quotes, "I believe the world will be saved by beauty."

As I began to research the context, intended meaning and the many interpretations of that quote, it is a wide spread belief that the author had Christ in mind when he wrote that. His apparent belief was that beauty or Christ, has and will save the world. He was quoted that "the incomparable beauty of Christ will overcome the horrific evil, including great apathy towards evil, that engulfs the world." Others believe differently; that it is, like beauty, open for interpretation.

The more I think about it, the more powerful it becomes. There are endless perspectives out there on it but this is my own...

I believe we were made in His image, by Him and for Him[1]. He is the definition, author and creator of beauty. To what can compare to the greatness and beauty of God? [2, 3] Daily, I cannot fathom that I am made in His image [4]. To think that the Creator of the Universe, the one who put the stars in the sky, who set the depths of the sea, who orchestrates every single detail of this world, longs to have a relationship with me. God had me in mind before the creation of the world; He knit me together in my mother's womb [5] and chose my every detail, all to define me and glorify Him. I am His precious and cherished treasure. He longs to be involved, and to take hold of a life surrendered to Him...

...I cannot comprehend a love so great that He'd come to earth, take up the cross, swallow my sin and the sins of the world [6, 6a], so that I could daily and forever have a relationship and eternal life with Him. To fathom a love I could never earn nor lose, and to think I am worth that sacrifice brings me to tears...

Most of all, it applies to you as much as it does me and every single human being in this world...

...With this, I am slowly realizing how insulting it must be to Him when I resent myself or any other being in any way, shape or form. That we are His beloveds - the ones He so incricately created and died for. To think how heart breaking it is to Him when I cannot accept the grace, the love and gifts that He has given. That when I abuse, neglect or reject an attribute, a talent, a gift, or any quality, I am rejecting Him. When I live my life apart from Him, or use my life other than the extraordinary ways I was ultimately meant for, that I am going against my life's very purpose...

We were wired to recognize and respond to beauty in it its endless forms. When I create, embrace and enjoy beauty, this brings Him glory.

When I see His beauty in the form of incredible art, I am in awe at the amazing artist my God is.

I know within that creator, that human being, whether they acknowledge it or not, that beauty manifesting out of them, is a glimpse of Him.

When I see those sacrificing to fight and speak up for injustices, I hear Him speaking.

When I see generosity, I think of what a provider He is.

When I hear words of life spoken, I remember what an encourager my God is.

When I see healing, I see my ultimate Healer.

When I see hospitality, I think of how hospitable my God is.

It is Him in us. In all these things, we catch glimpses of eternity and the original way that He intended the world to be. In one another's gifts, talents, art, intellect and all things, do we find traces of Him.

It's in the choice of mercy, love, kindness, compassion, grace, selflessness that we manifest acts of beauty. It is when we truly give of ourselves, forgive, return evil with good, carry one another's burdens and sacrifice for the sake of others do we we combat the flesh and suppress evil.

We wage daily in this battle but in the war in which He's already won.

From these acts, is a fraction of what once was, what is and what is to come. It is this light, this beauty that makes this world and this life worth living. We are clinging tight to pieces of heaven...
I can't help but believe that in midst the brokenness and chaos of this life, believer or not, it is beauty that sustains us. It is in and around us; we are constantly seeking and striving for it. We are moved by it...

The beauty He has created in every individual, He created in us as a body and a family. He gave us each talents, dreams and desires. We are meant to make up for where one another lacks. We were meant to remind one another for what and for whom we were made for. He wants to teach us to bring that out of one another, out of our crafts, skills, communities, society and ultimately our world. That through all we do, He wants to be revealed, His light shined and story told to all people.[7, 8]

I am among the believers and strivers of Christ because I am a lover of beauty - the beauty that came to save and will, in the end, save the world. It is in the story of the ultimate act of beauty and sacrificial love is that of a God who so loved the world that He sent His only Son to die so that we all might experience Him and live the life that is truly life[9]