The End of Beauty

I wear on my right hand a ring that says “Bonvm Veritas Pvlcher,” Latin for “Goodness, Truth, Beauty.”

The three words are sometimes called the transcendentals or the highest forms/ideas, or could even be considered final causes in teleology, studying the end goal or purpose of things. That’s some of the classical philosophy behind these lofty concepts. Goodness is good because… it is. Truth is… true. Beauty is beautiful… just because.

Beauty is unexplainable; it is something to which other things point. Sunsets, music, mountains, art, fresh air—they all give us tastes of beauty.

We all understand that beauty does something to us. It moves us, excites our souls, is sensed in our spirits. Beauty evokes words of wow and irrepressible smiles. 

When we walk up to the edge of the Grand Canyon and the immense expanse fills our eyes, we can't help but speak our amazement. At first sight the vast crater of Volcán Poás in Costa Rica, person after person says "¡Que lindo!" or “How beautiful!” When a child has her first bite of steak, her face lights up and a big grin creeps out. The music of Mozart played by an orchestra in a symphony hall forces one’s eyes to close in an experience of transcendence. Beauty gives us a sense that life is good, and we humans are drawn to it—desiring to get as much of the delightful experience of beauty as we can.

I’ve been exposed to the most beautiful of worlds humans can create. Being employed in upscale restaurants meant commuting past magnificent homes in luxurious neighborhoods then working around more-beautiful-than-average people driving up in their eye-catching cars, wearing tasteful clothing and leaving handsome tips. Wealth in the city is very appealing, alluring, attractive.

Costa Rica is overflowing in natural beauty. This country contains spectacular volcanoes, impressive mountains covered in tropical green, clean rivers with stunning waterfalls, and pristine beaches. The temperature is warm but not hot, the waters refreshing but not cold. The sun is pleasant but takes breaks for life-bringing rains and awesome thunderstorms.

I like beauty. I find it exceedingly attractive. (naturally). Unfortunately, I often make beauty an end, a goal. I forget to go a step further.

There’s an end to how much happiness beauty can provide us; it has its limits. Though many things contain value strictly because they contain beauty, beauty has not succeeded in satisfying me. I’m a seeker of goodness, truth and beauty. I’m adventurer in life. Yet for all the magnificent beauty I’ve been allowed to see, the high never lasts. My longing is never sated.

Costa Rica is a slice of the world where people come on spiritual journeys. I came on one, though I know the God I seek. Men and women, young and old, come here to appreciate the beauty in this nation, and it’s a good place to visit.

Ticos—Costa Rican locals—frequently use the phrase Pura Vida—literally, “Pure Life”—as a greeting, farewell, or just to say “what’s up?” or “sweet!” Here the phrase is used as the Hebrew Shalom, Sanskrit Namaste or even Hawaiian Aloha. Just as Shalom expresses the Jewish value of and longing for “peace,” or Namaste reveals the underlying Indian idea that “I bow to [the god in] you” or Aloha propels a cool, easygoing and friendly culture, so Pura Vida promotes a Costa Rican appreciation for a clean environment and a healthy, stress-free lifestyle.

The appeal of Pura Vida draws people from all over the world, especially the United States, because we long to be free of busyness, of processed foods and of concrete jungles. We see in Costa Rica a return to the Garden of Eden. The coastal scene we call paradise. We all long for a more perfect world, so why not pilgrimage to the bio-diverse and eco-friendly Costa Rica?

I'm guilty of being caught up in the idolatry of beauty. I may not seek after drugs for a high, but I do love a good adventure in a beautiful place. I like being around beautiful people, and I find wealth magnetically attractive. I like eating delicious and healthy food. I enjoy exercise. While these things may be good, when I fail to acknowledge the God behind the beauty, beauty ceases to please me; it can thrill no further. I’ve noticed that Costa Rican art revolves around Pura Vida and the natural wealth here… oddly similar to the way Indian art revolves around depictions of their various gods and goddesses. We pervert beauty when we make it an idol, when we worship something that contains beauty instead of the God who created it. Perversion never satisfies.

We exploit beauty in other ways too—gluttony, pornography, adultery, over-exercise, drunkenness, laziness… for a few examples. Our sinful human brains just cannot seem to get it right, constantly taking good gifts from God like food, bodies, sexuality, alcohol and rest, and using them improperly or in excess. I try to find the most harmless, healthy “high” possible—and I got it coming to Costa Rica. But I didn’t become a superman. I didn’t transcend to a higher state of being. I found that beauty cannot satisfy.

My ring, given to me by Biola Universtiy’s Torrey Honors Institute at graduation, reminds us of what we studied—a belief that the God-man Jesus Christ is the consummation of goodness, truth and beauty. God is good, and Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life. Jesus taught truth that runs deep through the veins of this earth, even calling himself the truth.  No act on earth has been as beautiful as the redemption Jesus brought about for us by his sacrificial death on a cross. Jesus is the be-all and end-all of this universe.

Jesus Christ is all that I’ve found satisfying on this earth. I’m serious. Everything else leaves me empty. Only when I live according to the good instructions in God’s Word do I know peace. Only in reading and meditating on the Bible do I sense that I am studying the most profound truths of the universe. Only when I worship the God who created me and this beautiful world do I feel that my life is rightly ordered.

As  I depart from Costa Rica today, it doesn't mean the end of beauty; it simply means I have to look for it in other places--in smiles, in conversations with friends, in a good cup of coffee on a rainy day. Because God made our world, the undercurrents of beauty are everywhere. We ought to seek out beauty; it’s good. But we ought not hope that beauty alone will fill the cravings of our souls. Drink responsibly from the well of beauty, and remember your Creator.