A HIGH sense of beauty has been expressed through the ages in what we call art. Through painting, sculpture, poetry, and music, men have presented their high aspirations. Many times an artist in freeing himself from the conventions which would seem to bind him has also endeavored to free himself from the mere conventions of religion, seeing in them only that which would stultify right impulse. As we observe mankind's contributions to the world of art, we often see art itself as the expression of a striving after perfection. We see a certain unity in music, painting, sculpture, literature, architecture; for each seeks to express the perfection of order, rhythm, beauty, and each is accordingly governed by some sense of law. Thus architecture has been called "frozen music," and music "liquid architecture."
Christian Science, however, turning the rays of its clear sightedness into every corner of human activity, clarifies our thinking, and enables us to begin to appreciate all right activities from the standpoint of spiritual law. As we begin to think of God, man, and the universe in their proper relation, as revealed by divine Science, we learn that we cannot separate real beauty from holiness. All true order, symmetry, and beauty exist in divine Mind, and men must have perceived something of this eternal harmony in order to express these qualities in some form of art. The wondrous design of the Parthenon has stood for centuries as an expression of fine form, because it is a symbolic manifestation of a mental concept of proportion and ordered symmetry, the reality of which exists in divine Mind, which the artist did not originate, but of which he expressed his highest concept.
Many of the great masters of art whose works have stood the test of time have made the world more sure of the eternal verities. The truly great artist, in revealing the vision he has seen, is not intent on trying to prove what a great craftsman he is. If one climbs to the top of a high mountain where a wonderful view is outspread, he knows he does not create the view. The unsatisfied longing of the human heart for expression is satisfied only as it learns through spiritual sense that we can do nothing, be nothing, create nothing, of ourselves; that God's work is done; and that we have only to awaken in order to see the glory of His handiwork. As the beauty and grandeur of divine creation become more real to us, we can reflect what we understand in some way that will be of service to mankind.
