Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, or so they say. One person might find Michelangelo's Pieta (pictured above) beautiful, while someone else might appreciate the infamous golden toilet labelled America more aesthetically pleasing. (Yes, the toilet exists, I just couldn't find a good picture of it. Google it if you're curious). In our current world where everything regarding beauty is a matter of personal taste, isn't it crazy how things seem to be turning uglier every year? A few months ago, French climate change protestors threw soup on da Vinci's Mona Lisa. Rap artist Lil Nas X appeared in a music video where he slid down a stripper pole and did a lap dance for Satan. Of course I can't forget British author E.L. James's erotic "masterpiece" Fifty Shades of Grey, where the main character is gaslit, coerced, and sexually abused in a highly toxic romance.
Christian art, whether that's a literal work of art, a piece of music, or a novel, has always held a different standard of beauty. Things like the Gothic cathedrals, beautiful hymns like Amazing Grace, or books like C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia always point to something higher, beyond themselves, instead of providing pleasure for the artist. I'm not trying to say that in order for things to be beautiful, they have to be explicitly Christian. Not everything needs to be bright and cutesy either. It just has to be truly good, inspiring people to be better humans somehow.
I should make it clear that not everyone is called to be a writer, painter, or musician; but we are all called to see beauty wherever we can and try to increase it. Bishop Robert Barron has called upon all Christians to evangelize by leading with beauty, and I agree. There's something about experiencing something authentically beautiful, like a good film or song, it breaks down barriers of culture and gathers us into a sort of collective enjoyment of beauty. Beauty can be a bridge of goodwill, allowing us to reach out to the non-Christians in our lives. So go out and find some beauty today. It might just save the world.
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