My first experiences of beauty were rituals like the Stations of the Cross. As an eight or nine year old the nuns would march us to the Church each Friday during Lent and we'd follow the exposition of the Passion by the paintings on the walls. From those earliest experiences I never felt beauty was a pristine representation of perfect form. This was a period (late 60s, early 70s) when there was a lot of pretty bad decor in Roman Catholic churches, such as colorful felt banners with " God is Love" blazoned on them. I preferred the Stations. It's serendipitous that you raised this today. Last night, I reread Flannery O'Connor's "Introduction to a Memoir of Mary Ann". Mary Ann was a 12 year old, who suffered and died from a facial tumor that disfigured her. The nuns who cared for her from age 3, asked Miss O'Connor to write a memoir of this amazing little girl, who filled the wards with her grace for 9 years. O'Connor discusses the issues you've raised concerning suffering, imperfection and beauty. She concludes that representations of the good are themselves an aspect of the grotesque, because our imperfections are always showing, and we are works in progress. A very beautiful essay in her collection of occasional prose, Mystery and Manners. The order of nuns caring for Mary Ann were founded by Rose Hawthorne Lathrop, daughter of writer Nathaniel Hawthorne, who O'Connor discusses as keenly aware of how suffering, disfigurement...are not excluded from beauty but often prefigure grace. Wishing you the best in the coming weeks!
@doctorjenny
Жыл бұрын
Welcome back!
@eryniel95
Жыл бұрын
What a wonderful video essay! So many people see "beauty" as something that is presented in a flawless outer appearance (be it sculpture, painting or real physical attributes) but miss that this are shallow descriptions of beauty and only present half of truth. As a Roman Catholic I always loved the concept of Japanese "Wabi-sabi" the beauty of the imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete" in nature. A teapot is only truly beautiful once it shows a patina of age, just as we humans (and the art we create) are beautiful once we embrace all the blessings of God. And no, that doesn't mean beauty can only be expressed in religious paintings or theological essays (my love for sci-fy, fantasy & mystery says hi), but everything that touches upon the One Truth is beautiful. also, best wishes and blessing for your delivery!
@doctorjenny
Жыл бұрын
Marvellous topic! Well argued and totally new and fresh. You have a new field of study before you!
@flavioscudeler
Жыл бұрын
even the most beautiful things begin to fade in intensity, by dint of admiring them. Flavio Scudeler quote 😊
@wraithby
Жыл бұрын
Excellent topic! How about a future vid on theo-aesthetics vs romantic aestheticism? I'm thinking of Burke's ideas regarding the sublime and the beautiful. I'd say most sensitive people today are in the sublime camp, where emotional feeling overwhelms, and notions of beauty and form take a back seat, with God long out of view from the rear view mirror. Where does Jane Austen fit? She inhabited the early romantic era, but has affinities with the classical, and as you discussed the theological has impacted her ethical framework.
@maryhamric
Жыл бұрын
This was a really lovely presentation. I really resonate with this....His death is the death of death. The beauty of the Incarnation is so often missed or not meditated on nearly often enough. The idea that Jesus is where the suffering are is a powerful one. 💗 I find beauty in music, art (including books and films) and nature and when I experience that beauty I believe I am experiencing God. Thank you for this. Looking forward to more! Blessings to you and have a safe delivery!
@Abel-ec6ch
5 ай бұрын
Fantastic. Thank you for this video!!! My request is to make more videos on aesthetics! I'd like more of an introduction to Greek beauty before you dive more into Christian aesthetics. This has been a topic of interest to me as well. I never imagined that Christianity would present a different kind of beauty, though. This is a really interesting topic. I would like to add also that I've been thinking of beauty as the manifestation of Goodness. Therefore, if there is a new form of goodness, we would have new forms of beauty. I love your channel when you just share whatever you're thinking about, like this. You have a living mind! It's so refreshing! Thank you! Keep making videos about whatever you want!
@beatrixscudeler
2 ай бұрын
Ok I can totally do this. I will note it down for the future - I might reread Roger Scruton's short introduction to beauty and make a video on that :)
@doctorjenny
Жыл бұрын
Always loved St Augustine’s quote ‘late have I loved you, beauty so ancient and so new’ What a plaintive cry of longing for ultimate,incomparable total love,good and beauty. Yes God! As he also said ‘our hearts are restless till they rest in you’. More than physical beauty, much more. Isn’t this recognition why Gerard Manley Hopkins burnt his early poems, and why St Thomas Aquinas said that all his writings were as straw compared to the vision of God?
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