The Revival of Beauty is Possible

Mrs Heckenkamp points out that God created us to appreciate the Beautiful, and despite the modern world, we should still be aware of it.

From One Peter Five

By Danielle Heckenkamp

Without a doubt, God created the human soul to seek beauty, revere it with awe, and find peace in its presence. As we no longer place God at the center of the moral, social, and natural order, we neglect and entirely ignore His power upon creation. This life is short, and as we traverse through this valley of tears, our attention must remain fixed on God’s will and glory. But how do we do this when the secular world and the Devil battle to distract us from what is good, true, and beautiful? The modern age offers the latest technological devices, applications, and efficient modes of communication, but these are only a means to an end. And if the end is not God, then they have distorted our perception of reality, broken the link between the soul and the divine, and diverted us from God’s will. By embracing these disordered worldly passions, our desires for what is good, true, and beautiful are muddled. In an age where information is at our fingertips and trends fly by faster than a flock of geese, it is paramount that our reason and knowledge of truth is continually exercised, molded, and educated to avoid the degradation of our minds, away from its purpose in this life, and embolden it with beauty, truth, and goodness.

There is no need to delve into specifics of the disordered passions in modern society. They consume social media, the latest fashions, modern fiction, economic policies, political ambitions, and artistic endeavors. Within the last couple of centuries, the human mind has sorrowfully drifted from dependence upon God to dependence upon oneself. This move towards individualism has progressively resulted in a civilization that no longer lives in community. It finds offensiveness more enticing than beauty, and it fails to respect our purpose in this world, while pursuing individual choices at the expense of moral and natural laws. 

Noting such atrocities, it might seem impossible to reverse the individualistic tendencies that draw us farther from our loving God. Yet, there is always hope. Even though history tends to repeat itself, in varying degrees, there are means to reverse the disordered passions of our modern world. It isn’t through technological advances, new efficiency standards, or economic policies, but instead through the development of the intellect towards what is beautiful, true, and good for the purpose of seeking God’s love.

Looking around, it might appear that all is lost, but it is not. God’s redemption gained us victory, but that doesn’t mean we are free to disengage from the daily battles warring against souls by the Devil. So how do we fight against the evil forces that seek our destruction? The answer appears simple, though it takes great effort and great love.

By imitating Christ’s example, we have the means to reverse the effects of our postmodernist culture by offering our downtrodden world glimpses of beauty, truth, and goodness. The focus on the distorted Enlightenment ideal of individual identity should not be our aim, but rather, a desire to serve others through charity. We should not regulate this service to specific sectors of our lives – Christ gave us His example to love as He loved. This is why beauty matters. We cannot ignore the pivotal impact of social media images and artwork that flash before our eyes, the thoughts that pervade our minds from obscene books, articles, or headlines, or the music lyrics and use of language as a means to communicate. If we choose to pervade humanity with ugly and disordered passions, then we must suffer the consequences of a civilization on the verge of collapse. But if we delve into what is good, true, and beautiful, we have an opportunity to spend each day uplifting our minds and embracing the soul’s internal desire for Truth and virtue.

Even with the onslaught of immodest clothing, crass entertainment, and architecture void of creativity, a revival has ensued within the last five years. This battle to reverse the deterioration of the mind and uplift the soul to God should invigorate us to notice a deeper power at work. Slow and steady as molasses on a cold winter day, portions of society have organically deepened their desire for beauty through a resurgence of classical education, Christian apologetics, hospitality, homesteading, pre-modern architectural restorations, and redefining modern fashion trends. When each of these are combined, they create a renewed society founded on community and charity, rather than individualism. By appreciating beauty and practicing charity, the soul advances towards its desire of God and gives back a small portion of what is due to its Redeemer. 

God is the provider of beauty, while the soul is the seeker. Pursuing what is true, good, and beautiful in this earthly life will eventually lead us to perfect union with God in the next. Let us contribute and cultivate beauty in the modern world by offering hospitality, reading classical literature, studying theology and history, limiting our time spent on the internet, appreciating antiques and artistic masterpieces, and creating a sense of community with our neighbors. These foundational pieces seeped in beauty, truth, and goodness will advance the soul spiritually towards God, while offering joy and hope to current and future generations by preserving sacred traditions.

Pictured: Traditional Vespers with Cardinal Sarah. Photo by Allison Girone.