Beauty will save the world

“Beauty will save the world”

— Fyodor Dostoevsky

Generally speaking, I tend to contemplate on beauty from the natural world by stumbling in the woods, or paddling a canoe until my mind is in a clearer and better space. But recent events have gotten me to think of beauty in different terms. I had the opportunity to attend an art and spirituality conversation at the Grand Marais First Congregational United Church of Christ. Because it is now April, which means poetry month, all of the panelists were poets and writers. They shared some of their work and we had the most wonderful conversation about when we speak of spiritual things, often language is not sufficient to express our experiences or feelings. Poetry can help in expression because there are so many different ways to create poetry, but still, our human language sometimes just falls short of actually defining or describing spirituality. And yet, we try.

Someone in the group brought up the Fyodor Dostoevsky quote, “Beauty will save the world.” When this sentence was uttered, there was a collective sigh and recognition of the truth of this statement. Beauty is of course in our natural world, along with great works of art, music, and literature, but also in our connectedness as human beings. It was evident in our desire to honor the spiritual, but to know that none of us has the adequate language to define it. Instead, we gather to celebrate it and to be with each other.

My elderly parents are now struggling with their own end of life struggles, and try as I might to make life better, I can only walk on the journey with them. As I look around the facility, I see the beauty of those who help to care for my parents. The tender touches, the slathering of lotion to very dry skin, the gentle reminders of when meal time will be or what is happening that day. The connections to their shared humanity and treating them with dignity, is beautiful.

There is beauty in dignity. Recently, the dignity in our culture seems to have eroded, which makes life ugly. I was heartened by what I saw at the state capitol on Saturday. Mark and I rode our bikes on a sunny, but chilly day and joined the thousands of people young and old for the ache of human connection. We’re all in this together. Smiles, chatting with friends that we had just met. Knowing that we all came together on this beautiful day for the connection that we needed. Again, no one seemed to be able to describe the event with any other words than, “This is amazing!” Language was insufficient.

We carefully walked out of the massive crowd to a more open spot where we could better see the striking white capitol against the spring blue sky surrounded by a huge group of people. My heart was gladdened and I agree with Dostoevsky, “beauty will save the world.”