Beauty
I wasn't able to post my comments to James Post at:
PARADOSIS
because my comments were too long.

Sigh.

So, here they are:

Hey James,

An inspiring post once again.

We've talked about beauty so much, and I agree, my own thoughts have lately turned toward beauty, and it's hard not to with spring in the air.

About the beauty of the human body, particularly for myself, as for you, the feminine human body - and the beauty of the soul, the beauty of God's finger in the world around us... the beauty of communion...

I do not think there is any such thing as good beauty and bad beauty. All beauty is good. And I think the goal of life, the becoming whole as the individuals God created us to be, is in coming to finally give up on the perversions we ascribe to "bad beauty" and see all beauty as a reflection of God's love and grace.

Another way of putting it: we pervert the natural beauty of the world all around us, by the desire to possess and consume. That statement encompasses everything from women to chocolate (or better I say, Bourbon? Scotch?). We become whole, and more Christlike, more God-bearing, as we come more and more to realize that our desire for consumption and possession is what makes things that are beautiful appear as though they are not. When we give up that desire, we can see all things as beautiful: reflecting the glory and nature of God.

Regards,
Basil