Some years ago while visiting DC we bought an ornament made
partially with copper from the old roof of the Library of Congress that
contains the inscription: Beauty is Truth, Truth Beauty. The quotation is
actually from one of Keats’ poems though it wouldn't surprise me if the
sentiment had an even earlier history. So in writing the first post reflecting the
words in this blog’s banner description, I figured as good a statement of
beauty as any would be that it is truth.
This could prevent us from having arguments over the view that what is beautiful to some may not be beautiful to others – the “eye of the beholder” - or having to wade through philosophical or artistic discussions. I would simply offer that although our experiences of truth may be different, there is no altering the fact that something is true or it isn’t; something is honest, or it isn’t.
Hopefully through the course of this blog, there will be
examples of moments when the beauty of finding something true stands out in a
world that likes to hide behind appearances.
The song linked above, “Caught in the Rain” by Jay Clifford is a good
example. There is no denying every one
of us gets “caught in the rain” of life over and over again. We find ourselves
unprepared and surprised. Yet there is
something beautiful in the realization, reflected in the musical bridge of this song, that there is more to life than rain.
