The quiet of the evening presents the opportunity to slow down and pause. A day can be so filled up and busy, whether it is work, errands, chores, calls, you name it - it's taking up your time. But when the shadows lengthen and the glow fades on the horizon, where do you turn for the evening?
As February fades away into the distant past, did you spend your time well? I think about how we have entered the season of Lent just over a week ago. I have been more purposeful in my Lent this year than ever, and it is reflected in my soul. I feel the closeness of the season and its meaning.
After reading the Liturgy of the Hours Evening and Night prayers, I enjoy steeping peppermint tea and drinking it as I read whatever book I am in the mood for from my stack of current reads.
I am on this journey through several very good books, two of which I have made a good dent in. I'm sure I'll expand my thoughts and reflections more as I continue my reading.
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
As a general rule, people, even the wicked, are much more naive and simple-hearted than we suppose. And we ourselves are, too. (page 5)
This novel is a journey through the characters and their differing views of God and morality. The dialogue circles around this and brings to light through their experiences and choices the difficult questions about God. It's a murder mystery, trial, and drama of a broken family, and yet the core is addressing the questions about God. The wise elder, Father Zossima, is a voice of godly wisdom, which the characters get to experience and take their way.
Through the book, you get to see all the sides of the characters, and even those who seem so terrible you will find yourself empathizing with. You may see yourself in one of the brothers, then later you will see yourself in another brother. It's supposed to speak to each of us - because we each are like all the brothers. Kind of like in the parable of the prodigal son - we are not only like the younger son, we are also like the older.
We can place ourselves into these stories, and see what God is showing us.
If you can attain to perfect self-forgetfulness in the love of your neighbor, then you will believe without doubt, and no doubt can possibly enter your soul. (page 51)
Aesthetics, Volume I by Dietrich von Hildebrand
Above all, beauty is a reflection of God, a reflection of his own infinite beauty, a genuine value, something that is important in-itself, something that praises God....It is extremely important to understand the central objective good that the existence of beautiful things is for the human person. (from Introduction)
The main argument of this insightful, philosophical book is that beauty is objective (good in and of itself) and not subjective as the world sees beauty as in the eyes of the beholder. Beauty has value and it is important-in-itself. Going up against the worldly views of beauty, Hildebrand has a lot to build up in his argument, and it's so important in our current post- modern world that tells us now that things are meaningless or absurd. That art is art because they say so, and the ugly things are called art and praised as absurd.
Beauty is not an emotional experience, and it is not valued by the judgment of each individual person. He makes this very clear that beauty and value is not good only because we desire it. It's good in and of itself. Take ourselves out of the picture, true beauty is still good. There's a deeper metaphysical beauty that goes beyond the surface when we think about visual beauty in humans. And we are to hold these things in high value.
Much more to read on this, but it has been a fascinating journey so far.
Value embodies the true, the valid, the objectively important.
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