Beauty
Henry Ward Beecher. Zechariah 9:17 For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids. One by one the various traits of Divine excellence came before the mind of the prophet, and at last he, as it were, generalised them; and the whole vision struck him as one of extreme beauty. The wisdom of God, His justice, His purity, His truth, His love, — all of these, in quality, in quantity, and in harmony, form a symmetric whole, which deserves, if anything deserves it, the epithet "beautiful," and meets the highest conception, and overreaches the highest aspiration which the human heart has for the element of beauty. Is beauty, then, a reality in the higher spiritual life? Is there in the inward, invisible, and truly spiritual life that which answers to our idea of sensuous beauty? Or is it figurative? I hold that beauty is first spiritual, and afterwards natural and material. I hold that it was Divine; that it inhered in the nature of God, and the nature of spiritual existence. Examine the relation of beauty to moral qualities. As God has created the world, beauty is not a kind of seasoning scattered upon the weightier realities. Men think that the beauty of this natural world is a kind of decoration. Perfectness and beauty are identical. Maturity, whether it be of fruit, or flower, or what not, works by stages towards beauty in the material globe. So that beauty is not an accident. Still less is it the trimming which God gave to the perfected work. It is the Divine idea of a mode of creation. As the human mind is cultivated, it becomes more and more sensitive to this quality. The less culture men have, the further they are from the admiration of beauty; that is to say, the less comprehensive is their admiration. When the human mind develops and grows toward its perfection, it grows toward the sense of beauty. But moral qualities come under this law, just as much as physical qualities do. Fulness, fineness, and harmony — there is the formula. In nature it is called quantity, symmetry: and the equivalent of this in moral elements is fulness, fineness, harmony. Whatever elements the mind produces when it acts so as to give fulness, fineness, and harmonious proportions to the product, are beautiful. That is to say, they produce the sense of beauty in those that look upon them, and tend universally to do it. Right things are commanded in the Bible, but it is not enough that we should be just, conscientious, true, amiable, or benevolent. There is to be fulness in each of these elements, and there is to be harmony among all of them. And here is the formula fulfilled which goes to make social and moral affections beautiful. It would seem enough to say to men, "Be kind, be generous, be benevolent"; but no, Let love be without dissimulation. God loves a cheerful giver. Give without grudging one to another. These are the elements that go to make beneficence; that free it from wrinkles; that give it largeness and generosity. The growth toward ripeness in moral experience is analogous to development in physical nature, — that is toward beautifulness. Just in proportion as any one of our better feelings becomes predominant over the others, men feel that character is growing lovely, attractive, admirable. And these are only step stone words that bring you to the last one, "beautiful." There is nothing so beautiful in this world as beauty of character. Applications — 1. All the world recognises beauty in the lower grade of qualities. It is the higher moral experience that men lack a knowledge of Devotion is more beautiful than passion. The love of God in the soul is far more beautiful than any love of man can be. The qualities of religion to which we are called are supreme, not alone in importance, but in art even. They are essentially and intrinsically more admirable, more noble, more beautiful than all the lower experiences. 2. How great is the variety of spiritual things in the Christian life! and how few things are gained! How many persons are there that are beautiful in temper? How many whose good nature is anything more than the mere product of good health? How little is the Church beautiful in its grace! 3. The unbeautifulness of Christian life is sadly shown in me popular impression with regard to religion. Men mostly feel that religion is something that may be obligatory, but that there is nothing attractive about it. The true idea is, that a man who goes into a Christian experience, goes into a larger liberty, and goes into a larger joy. 4. Christians should at least be as sensible to spiritual beauty as to physical. All men should love beauty in common things. 5. God is bringing all good men toward that realm, and that indescribable experience which is hinted at in the words of Scripture. The work which is going on in us, we do not ourselves at all appreciate. (Henry Ward Beecher.). Parallel Verses KJV: For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids. WEB: For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! Grain will make the young men flourish, and new wine the virgins.