Journal of Sacred Work : Beauty, Truth & Caregiving

Beauty is truth, truth beauty, - that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.
- from "Ode on a Grecian Urn" by John Keats (1795-1821)

We nod our heads in agreement with Keats' couplet, but do we observe it? A great painting is never simply "pretty" just as a beautiful woman is never simply "cute." And yet we sometimes decorate our lives with images dressed to hide the truth instead of to revel in it.
Over the past weeks, I have been watching the PBS series on great art. Without exception, the lives of the great artists have been marked by critical attack, narrow prudishness, censorship, and a public blindness to the genius these gifted people created in their time. Why does this happen? ....

We think we want to see something "pretty." Instead, great artists show us a truth we often don't wish to see - at least right away. They provoke us out of our comfort zones. They make us think and feel in ways we may never have experienced. Indeed, perhaps this is one of the best tests of art. The great artist prods and inspires us to leave our comfortable pathways to venture into a deeper part of the forest, a more dangerous part of the ocean. And, like frightened children, we sometimes rebel.
The greatest paintings of Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Turner and Picasso, for example, were largely either ignored or savagely ridiculed in their time. Even the work of America's great naturalist painter, John Audubon, was under-appreciated enough in his time that his widow died in poverty and was only able to sell his precious copper plates for the value of the metal rather than the brilliance of her husband's genius.
As a high school student, I imagined that the old days when people reacted with shock to, for example, a nude painting or photograph, were gone. Surely, civilization and education have trained the average citizen to sense the difference between pornography and fine art, I thought. Of course, I was mistaken.
It appears there will always be those who imagine that their goal in life is to try to restrict (for everyone) the definition of beauty to flowers, trees, and portraits of those dressed in finery. These are people who may believe that we should put a pair of paints on Michelangelo's "David" and a toga over what's left of the Venus De Milo. Perhaps this would suit their taste. But, these folks often wag accusing fingers at anyone who won't agree with them. As one person said to me recently, "why should we look at things like that (nudes) when there are so many other things to admire?" It's difficult to debate someone with this point of view other than to offer Keats' language.
Is all of beauty and truth confined to the clothed form? Doesn't art appreciation require that we turn our gaze into truth in order to find a beauty that goes deeper than the skin of a flower petal or a feathered hat adorning a 19th century Duchess?
Narrow thinking patterns afflict caregiving as well. It is maddening to observe the paralysis of hospital board members and executives who tolerate substandard caregiving in the organizations they oversee. There are answers to these problems. But those in charge frequently limit their look to an imaginary truth. They choose to listen to soothing words that "everything is running fine" rather than to confront the real truth.
This is the challenge to each of us in society. Which among us will speak up for progress toward loving cultures - cultures that both support creativity and honor courageous expressions of Love?
In the spring of 1885, Vincent Van Gogh created a break-through masterpiece entitled "The Potato Eaters." At a superficial glance, someone might say, "I thought art was supposed to be pretty. What's pretty here?" A deeper look into the painting reflects a loving creation by Van Gogh of a vision of truth - a group of poor farmers gather around a table. The light is dim. The faces reflected in it may not fit everyone's definition of beauty. But they are true. And in this truth, Love shines out to us.
Perhaps this week we may look for the beauty that lives deeper than pretty smiles and smooth skin. For it is beneath the skin that Love thrives, waiting for us to notice her.