Something Religious: The Beauty of Christ

[Just a warning for you, this is a rather spontaneous bit of writing. Please forgive any and all errors as the fruit of inspiration being faster then typing.]

The beauty of Christ is not the beauty of man. Some may say that mankind* has a raw beauty that is of some earthy quality and while impressive is of a lesser value compared to that of Christ. Many argue that the beauty of Christ is some ephemeral thing, like a bit of gossamer, that is transcendent and separate from this world. An inattainable thing that would only be corrupted, if not defiled, by human hands.

This rejection of humanity must pain God. I'm sure of it. Why you ask, gentle reader?

Well for one simple reason- beauty is in the eye of the beholder, yes, but two different things can still remain beautiful. A sunset and a particularly fine painting are both objects of beauty. They are, however, two vastly different things. A lovely display of flowers and a beautiful person are two different things, but they are still coined as bits of beauty in the world.

Now my take on all of this may be too simple. I don't know. I'm still learning about how to be Christian, so I may have most of the whole ball of wax wrong here. But, from what I've been able to gather, the beauty of the world is still beauty, no matter what shape it takes. The beauty of Christ is still beauty. The difference found is in what shape that bit of beauty takes. And the concept that the beauty of Christ is transcendent and separate from this world is grossly flawed.

Yes, that beauty is transcendent. It holds an over arching property to it that goes beyond description in the limited words that we have in our languages. It is a thing of pure spirit and emotion that defies words, much like the heart stopping depths of any emotion. Transcendance is not mutually exclusive to being in the world. The Church ** is the corporeal body of Christ in this world. It is a corporate entity that makes up the presence and the beauty of Christ in this world.

I dearly and deeply hope that the different people that make up this body of Christ will come to realize that their validity is because of their faith. And that beauty of Christ, which seems so ephemeral, won't be stained by human hands when the body is made of mankind.

*My use of the masculine gender as the general descriptor of humanity is convention sake, not some gender postulating or anything else silly like that.

**I use the term Church as encompassing the entire community of believers that make up Christianity and those who belive in Christ.