In
church this past week, our choir sang “For
the Beauty of the Earth”. It
is a simple song with no other goal than to express gratitude to God.
It is our prayers put to music, allowing us to more fully express our
emotion and sincerity.
An
emphasis in volume, tone, or harmony adds layers to the
communication. Music exalts our words.
A
contemplation of the song begs the question: what is beauty?
My
cousin and I sat in the car yesterday in fervent conversation. Though
from Utah, she currently lives in Texas. We faced the Wasatch Range
during sunset. The last pink light of illumination rose up the sides
of the snow-laced
peaks. I’m not sure one could ask for a better view to have
conversations of the soul.
She
exclaimed at the magnificence of the mountains, and I agreed. They
are always spectacular.
In
our modern age, we know that the mountains are the result of tectonic
forces in some form or another. We know they carry on them the
history of epochs before human history. But even without that
knowledge, they seem to proclaim themselves to be the temple of God.
Indeed, they have been used that way.
Why
do they strike us with awe?
I’m
not sure that scientific observation can answer that question. True,
there appears to be a place in the brain that can appreciate beauty,
and it appears to be associated with the same impulses that govern
disgust or pain. In these terms, it seems to be the difference
between what is bad for us and what is good for us.
Except
that going up in the mountains is bad for us. We don’t survive
easily there. And what of the beauty in math?
An
appreciation of an object or concept that can have no real benefit to
our “evolutionary” fitness seems to suggest that beauty
is more than what is good for our bodies. It is good for our spirit.
This
apprehension of beauty is a first step towards gratitude, much as
sorrow for our actions that have caused harm is a first step towards
repentance. Both are experiences that lead us towards Christ, whether
we know of the Savior or not, for all that is good leads us closer to
him.
Gratitude
is a “clinically proven” approach to life. (Emmons &
McCollough, 2003 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12585811)
It is not surprising, then, that we are commanded to be grateful,
since God gives us no commandment except it has benefit for us as
individuals and/or community.
In
every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus
concerning you. (1 Thessalonians 5:18)
What’s
more, as we study the scriptures, we learn that obeying this
commandment brings us countless blessings.
And
inasmuch as ye do these things with thanksgiving, with cheerful
hearts and countenances, not with much laughter, for this is sin, but
with a glad heart and a cheerful countenance—
Verily
I say, that inasmuch as ye do this, the fulness of the earth is
yours… (D&C 59:15-16)
And
he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious;
and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred
fold, yea, more. (D&C 78:19)
For
every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be
received with thanksgiving. (1st Timothy 4:4)
True
gratitude is recursive.
How
often have we been taught, or have heard or experienced that when we
start listing blessings to be grateful for, we inevitably find more
to be grateful for?
Beauty
is just the first step. It is when we attribute the experience of
beauty to our Parents in Heaven and to Jesus Christ (or to however
someone understands Them) that we experience gratitude. When we look
up in such a manner, they reveal unto us more beauty, thus allowing
us to be blessed and feel more gratitude.
Both
the prophets and science teaches us that even when life is sparse and
difficult, gratitude can lift our burdens. Beauty brings us peace and
joy. When we are engaged in the circle of gratitude, then we have
used up all our brain’s processing power in a positive pursuit.
And
so, I will call up a recursive function: I am grateful for gratitude.
It leads me to more beauty, which expands my understanding. What an
amazing experience this mortality is.
For the beauty of the earth,
For the beauty of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies,
For the beauty of each hour
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flow'r,
Sun and moon, and stars of light,
For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth, and friends above,
For all gentle thoughts and mild,
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.
Text: Folliott S. Pierpoint, 1835-1917
Music: Conrad Kocher, 1786-1872
Ami Chopine started out her mortal existence as a single cell. That cell divided into a collection
of cells that cooperated enough to do such things as eat, crawl, walk and eventually read a lot
and do grownuppy things.
When she was seven years old, hanging upside down on the monkey bars, she decided she
wanted to be a scientist when she grew up. Even though she studied molecular biology at the
University of Utah, that didn't quite come to pass. She became a writer instead. Still, her passion
for science and honest inquiry has remained and married itself to her love of the Gospel.
Ami is married to Vladimir and together they have four amazing children -- three in college and
one in elementary school, where Ami is president of the Family School Organization. Vladimir
is the better cook, but Ami is the better baker. She also knits, gardens, stares at clouds, and sings.
She can only do three of these at the same time.
Besides two published computer graphics books and several magazine tutorials, she writes
science fiction and has a couple of short stories published. You can find her blog at
www.amichopine.com.
Ami was surprised to not be given a calling as some kind of teacher the last time she was called
into the bishop's office. She currently serves as the Young Women Secretary -- somewhat
challenging for the girl whose grandmother used to call the absentminded professor.
