Searching for the unfading and evergreen Beauty... amidst the decadent and deciduous beauty of this world...!
"Beauty will save the world..." [1]
(Fyodor Dostoevsky: "The Idiot")
Taking as a reason for reflection the 'harsh realism' of the Autumnal decadent alterations of nature - of which we humans are also a part - we seek, among the processes of decay that we see around us... but also those that we 'feel' on ourselves, throughout our lives, the indestructible and evergreen Beauty... which is indeed an exclusive attribute of God, but - according to His Divine will - also acceptable to every mortal person who participates in the divine life...!
Our outer (because there is also an inner…) sensory system, declining with increasing age, is subject to unjustified damage and alterations… which gradually dull the functional acuity of all our physical senses. The natural decline of aging that occurs in our physical organism degrades and weakens our senses until they completely collapse, without any substantial scope for our corrective interventions! However, our inner senses are not 'obliged' to have the same decadent course. On the contrary, indeed, if we want to (because that is how our God defined it!) we can achieve - with His Divine Grace - an 'inversely proportional' [ 2 ] evolutionaryness, of the things that concern our psychosomatic physiology…!
Being absorbed by the incessant preoccupation with ourselves and trapped in thought amidst events of heterogeneous and emotionally unstable moods (with ups and downs) of the flowing everyday life... can we, perhaps, even fleetingly, calm down, so as to be 'touched' by the theurgic dramaturgy of Nature?! Living amidst "irregular worries" [ 3 ] and mental tensions, which distract our attention from the essential issues of existence... but also dull the 'aesthetics' of our souls towards the most essential things..., how (if) is it possible to 'escape' from the 'dark prison' of insensitivity... where we are 'confined' by the frivolous squandering of our living life, in general... but also by the careless management of our senses, in particular...?!
Each season (spring-summer-autumn-winter) of the solar cycle, like each age (childhood-youth-mature-old age) of human life, has its own, unique peculiarity and beauty…! A beauty… that differs symptomatically from all other seasonal/age manifestations, and is left to us – each of us – to 'discover' it for ourselves, and to experience it delightfully in our own time… to the glory of God! Consequently, it is frivolous and foolish for anyone to rush to 'categorize' the seasons (as well as the ages…) into 'better' or 'worse'… with the sole criterion of one's own 'reduced sensitivity' and perception…!
Even if/when our (potential) mental maturity is combined with a high index of intelligence, intellectual (IQ) or emotional (EQ), if our soul is not enlightened by the Grace of the Holy Spirit, we will not be able to perceive empirically… except what (coarse…) falls within our conventional senses! Because, the (deceptive) Cartesian axiom of sensualism: “There is only… what is seen, while what is not seen… does not exist!” which has prevailed, from the late Middle Ages… until the 21st century (which accepts being dominated by medieval perceptions!) frivolously condemns to… 'non-existence' what, like our immaterial soul, is 'hidden' behind their invisible, spiritual nature…!
We must urgently, patiently and persistently seek the unconventional beauty… which never withers, does not wither and does not fall off, but always shines, shimmers and flourishes…! However, because it is invisible to our conventional sensory system, in order to ‘see’ it (and, above all, to ‘recognize’ it when we see it…), it presupposes a non-negotiable condition: that we have not lost… or, if we have lost it, that we have fully recovered, within ourselves, the lost ‘light’ of innocence…! And if, again, we were not able to recover (fully) the purity in the ‘gaze of the soul’, at least we have begun our… ‘ocular’ treatment!
Because this 'special beauty' of the invisible aspect of things... is not subject to the perception of conventional senses... as long as these are and remain bound by our passions, in order for this to become possible, it is necessary for the soul to be purified (like gold in the furnace...) by the immaterial 'fire' of the Holy Spirit! Because, the 'vision' of invisible beauty... is carried out in a godly manner, like the sensibility of divine actions upon the soul! A charismatic perception/apprehension is necessarily needed, which only God can grant - and grants... to those who choose to live this present life... divinely, humbly and purely...!
The pure man (i.e. the one purified by the indwelling and energy, within him, of the All-Holy Spirit), having in his 'sky of the soul' the uninterrupted spiritual 'sunshine' of the Intellectual Sun of Justice... is always happy, peaceful and cheerful, even when some 'clouds' (trials and temptations...) 'splash' the 'vast blue' of his spiritual sky! He does not cease, of course, to function biologically and sensorially: to see... to hear... to smell... to taste... to touch... everything that surrounds him, but he carries it out spiritually... with 'other' (godlike) senses, understanding with 'other' (godlike) perception the revealed visible and invisible world... by which he is surrounded!
Thus, he always approaches all of God's gifts with the same grateful disposition of his heart towards Him, not favoring one gift over another. He embraces everything (all 'good'... and all 'bad'...) eucharistically and doxologically, as a blessed outgrowth of Divine Love, not preferring one more than the other, because he considers all, indiscriminately, as equal and valuable provisions of God's Goodness, which serve the same purpose: the education and preparation of man for an adaptive transition: from this temporary life of corruption... to that endless life of incorruption...!
Always acting with the same divinely inspired logic… the man of God does not overestimate, for example, Spring as 'better' (because then life blooms...) nor does he underestimate, as 'worse', Autumn (because then nature withers...)! He does not prefer the warmth of Summer to the frost of Winter... nor youth to old age... just as he does not prefer - and indeed obsessively! - the living existence in this ephemeral world, from the post-biological life to the supra-worldly glade of the Kingdom of God...! For the in-godly man, "Life is Christ..." [ 4 ], so that every 'contract' of the present world is faced by him with dispassionate condescension.
For the godless man, who has fallen (by self-willed choice) from the 'godly' superiority, perception and sensibility of the divine life... there is no question! He, lacking inspiration and vision of 'godly' insight, would like (if he could) to 'throw anchor' forever in the present world of corruption... in this temporary living life of mediocrity..., since he 'lives' without any appeal and nostalgic desire for eternity! Because, by not believing in God... he becomes completely 'incapable' of desiring whatever is higher and transcendent that is offered... so he does not even expect any 'transition' from corruption to incorruption...!
The special beauty of each era is not limited to what is seen… and perceived by the conventional senses. Within our external impressions, there is hidden an unseen (unexplored and uncharted…) Beauty…! A beauty that expects… from our conventional senses, to function unconventionally… in order to detect and locate it! And when they find it and search for it… to ‘bridge’ it with the divine consciousness of man… and the consciousness to make it an occasion for praise-thanksgiving to the Creator God! Of that genius Mind, who was inspired… designed it… and created it ‘Poetically’, brilliantly constructively…!
The particular beauty of each age phase, through the aesthetic diversity of the gradual maturation of rational beings, signifies 'very particularly' the mystery of human life itself! It highlights the individual 'latent' (invisible) Beauties of each age, harmonizing their sequence with miraculous interconnectivity; as a natural sequence from the earlier to the later..., as a progressive transition from the immature... to the early... to the mature... to the late... of a magnificent and fascinating evolutionary path and incremental process, which leads beings - from dawn to their reign - to completion, completeness and perfection.
With our coming, from non-existence to existence, and our entry into the present life, as well as our exit from it, our passage through the earthly paradise of divine Creation is a fascinating 'feast' of the senses! An existential experience and a shocking adventure, which is 'in our hands' to give it: a) with our divine choices, a 'godly' character (which befits 'children of God', predestined to live with Him... inheriting Him...), or b) with our ungodly choices, a 'mortal' character (which refers to children of man born of death... i.e. fallen from the eternal perspective for which they were created)!
The subtle processes of the senses and the subtle feelings arising from them, when carried out 'godly' (...), deeply plow our soul, cultivating and educating it, so that it may be continually elevated and extended reductively, with its mind and heart, from the sensible to the intelligible... from the earthly to the heavenly... and from the worldly to the supramundane... there, where all our desired appeals and aims are directed... and where our "in the image and likeness of God" eternal 'existential destiny', of all Christ-worshippers, will be completed!
The silent 'instruction' of the Creator God to each of us, His rational creatures, who manage the wealth of His Creation, is: "My child, STOP... ATTENTION... and FEEL... all the God-created good that surrounds you! Do not pass by or bypass it hastily... frivolously... carelessly... and indifferently...! Stop the frenzied rush of your life... and let your senses harvest 'inwardly' joyfully... and 'godly' delightfully... thoughtfully and admiringly... glorifyingly and eucharistically..., the perceptible and intelligible Beauty that surrounds you... and leads you to Me: your infinite God and Creator..."!
Stop and Look…, man, Stop and Listen… Stop and Smell… Stop and Taste… Stop and Touch… whatever good, pure and beautiful has been given to you and surrounds you, enjoying it 'godly', with a eucharistic and doxological attitude towards the Creator of Universal beauty! And when/if you train your mind, heart and senses… so that they never/never despise the sensible Beauties of Divine Creation, countless other and indescribable surprises of delight in other, magnificent… supersensible, but very realistic Divine goods await you…! [ 5 ]
Because, truly, if we train our souls HOW to carefully, thoughtfully and philosophically follow… the ‘exploratory paths’ of our senses within the Divine Creation… we will always discover, behind every aesthetic grandeur and beauty, our wonderful Creator God, humbly ‘hidden’: the living and representative (not vague and impersonal) generative Cause and Source of all goodness and beauty! And if, every time we stand before the overwhelming grandeur of Creation, we hasten to ‘embrace’ it with a eucharistic and glorifying mood… we will always feel within us a strong stirring of godly erotic attraction… towards the Creator of universal harmony and beauty…!
REFERENCES-FOOTNOTES
[ 1 ] The 'poetic power' of this well-known literary phrase (which comes from the emblematic novel "The Idiot" by the Russian 'stone' of world Classical Literature, Theodore Dostoevsky), derives its conceptual power... from the Orthodox theological approach. The novel in question explores, in the author's excellent way, the complexity of human nature... and the moral contrast between the innate beauty of the protagonist's soul (Prince Myshkin) and the corrupt world that surrounds him. The protagonist is a young man, whose pure nature and spiritual goodness is misunderstood by others - as is usually the case - making them consider him... an idiot. Within this context, the author's speech becomes a beacon of hope... suggesting that: the eternal Beauty (which is an exclusively Divine attribute...) has the power from God to bring salvation, and to transform the ephemeral world of decay... into eternal, unfading and unfading incorruption! Consequently, it does not refer to the 'physiognomic beauty' of physical appearance, which declines and withers...
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[ 2 ] “Our outward man is perishing, but the inward man is being renewed day by day…” (2 Cor. 4:16)!
INTERPRETATION: Although the outer man (body) decays and withers…, our inner self (soul) is daily renewed…
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[ 3 ] "Slow-moving cares" are called, in Orthodox hymnology and the Niptical teaching of the Eastern Church, the multifaceted worries and diverse occupations of everyday life, which tire and exhaust people psycho/physically, giving rise within them a sluggish... sluggish... and almost (completely) unwilling disposition for the struggle in Christ and the spiritual life!
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[ 4 ] “For to me, to live is Christ… and to die is gain…” (Phil. 1:21)!
INTERPRETATION: For me, Christ is considered life... and death is understood as gain, because it will bring me closer to my Beloved Lord...
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[ 5 ] “Eye has not seen… and ear has not heard… and it has not entered into the heart of man… what God has prepared for those who love Him…” (1 Cor. 2:9)!
INTERPRETATION: The supermundane and spiritual goods that God has prepared for those who love Him by keeping His commandments, no human eye has seen them… nor has human ear heard them… nor have they ever become the object of desireful longing… on the part of the human heart…!
