ERE AT WATERSHED we talk an awful lot about “beauty.” There really isn’t another word for “beauty” and perhaps we overuse that word.
“Beautiful” has many definitions. A decent one is “something in which man takes delight.” Another might be, “something which shines forth because of its perfection.” As we’ll see in a minute, many different kinds of things can have “perfection.” Years ago, like James D. Conley, I took courses with Dennis B. Quinn, who founded the 1970s Integrated Humanities Program with John Senior and Franklyn Nelick. If you’ve never heard of it, I encourage you to Google it.
I’m horrible when it comes to poetry, but anybody who studied the “Poetic Method” with these KU professors had to memorize this awesome poem:
My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man;
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.
Pretty amazing … young children understand beauty. And so do adults. So do the elderly.
Anyway, Bishop Conley has written a long article for Crisis Magazine about beauty, the Catholic Faith, and the Integrated Humanities Program. Highly recommended! For a PDF version, click here.
