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Beauty leads up
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Beauty leads up

Stained Glass Zealot
Jan 15
20
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Beauty leads up
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Looking up, at any old medieval cathedral, one might wonder where the effort came from. They stand as ghosts in a modern world.

Beauty

Beauty sometimes touches us to the core. Once you see it, you cannot unsee it. Real beauty is uplifting, it brings up. Each time one looks at this beautiful object, it lifts the spirits. Beauty, like Goodness and Truth, is one of the three transcendentals. Unlike the other two, it is very easy to see. In a world where the other two have been forgotten, the first remains, often stored in a museum. The old Mona Lisa, or the Annunciation, both by Da Vinci are often admired as an object on itself.

Then, one starts to wonder where this beauty comes from. What are the ideas behind it? Beauty acts as a step to the greatness of Christianity. Medieval cathedrals are ordered, but not streamlined. They are richly adorned, but not kitsch. They give a center to a city.

Christianity disappearing?

The centers of Christianity, the churches, still stand as a testimony in the Western world. Even though largely abandoned, they hide Truth and Goodness, as a testimony of theology in stone.

brown cathedral during daytime

At the moment when revolutionaries thought Christianity was dead, it revives. A mustard seed…

In a disconnecting society, the center is often lost. As we forget why the churches stand in the middle of our cities, we forget our center, which ought to be Christ, all else is idol worship.

Beauty leading up

Beauty is high up in the hierarchy of values. A society cannot exist without it. It is an innate craving of humanity. While trying to measure everything, we forgot to focus on the immeasurable.

The beauty in this world is great, but it points up. There are higher values. The modern devices in our hand focus us to look down.

There is only true happiness in Christ.

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FALST
Writes Carthusian Monk's Reflections Jan 16Liked by Stained Glass Zealot

The error lies in substituting theology in stone for technology on screens.

Indeed, as a mustard seed it shall turn our gaze once again to the center.

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Sarah Corriher
Writes Homefront Crusade Jan 16Liked by Stained Glass Zealot

Thank you for sharing. Modernity has embraced minimalism in places where we once lauded beauty for the purpose of reverence.

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