Recently, I had two experiences of beauty that moved me to reflect on what happens to us when we experience exceptional beauty. I would describe both experiences as “ecstatic.”
They were experiences that called me out of myself. Perhaps this happens with every experience of beauty. Perhaps every experience of beauty is, to some extent, ecstatic. Very strong experiences of exceptional beauty can stop us in our tracks. They can even be overwhelming.
One experience occurred when my niece invited me to have dinner with her, her two small children and her husband in their home on the eastern end of Long Island. She made a point of showing me the beautiful sunset which she viewed every evening after dinner. It reminded me of a view of sunsets which seminary classmates of mine and I regularly viewed over Lloyd’s Neck Harbor from a hill on the Seminary grounds in Huntington. The sunsets were breathtaking! We called the view “The Million Dollar View.”
The other experience was seeing the face of a waitress at a special dinner I attended recently. I only saw her face for about two or three seconds but it was one of the most beautiful faces I have ever seen. Both of these experiences were ecstatic, and perhaps every experience of beauty invites us to experience more beauty. We are called by experiences of beauty, called to be enriched.
Perhaps every experience of beauty moves us to desire more and more profound experiences of beauty.
In an earlier column in this series of columns on beauty I mentioned that my project to be more open to experiences of beauty was not a prayer experience but it was not unrelated to a prayer experience. That comment was not planned by me. I just wrote it when the idea occurred to me. I have been thinking of it during the last few weeks and I have been trying to figure out just how my openness to beauty might relate to praying.
A definition of praying that many people use is: “Praying is the raising of the mind and heart to God.” That is a good definition but my problem with it is that it gives the impression that prayer starts with us, that we initiate the process.
I prefer the following definition: “Prayer is hearing the word of God and responding to that word.” God
initiates the process of prayer and we respond to God’s initiative. When I claim that we hear the word
of God I am not referring literally to the words of scripture but rather to God’s constant presence in our lives.
God may speak to us while we are watching television, reading a newspaper, having a conversation with a friend. God’s word can be addressed to us at any moment and we can respond to it whenever God communicates with us. If my way of thinking of prayer is correct then we may be praying much more often than we have previously thought. Every good action we perform, because we are responding
to God’s word, is a prayer. Though there may be moments in our experience when we respond more formally to God such as at celebrations of the Eucharist.
I don’t think that we have to limit our understanding of prayer to those formal moments. If my view of prayer is correct then even people who describe themselves as “unbelievers” might in their lives be responding to God by their good actions without realizing that what they are doing is a prayer. I think my view of prayer fits in nicely with the truth that grace is everywhere. I think it avoids the tendency to limit God’s activity to formally religious actions such as celebrating the sacraments. Of course God is active when Catholics celebrate sacraments but I think it is a mistake to limit God’s activity to the celebration of sacraments or to other formally religious settings.
I think the view of prayer that I am suggesting enables us to be sensitive to God’s presence in our lives and in the lives of all people. I want to make as clear as I can that I am not equating aesthetic experiences
of art with prayer. Rather what I am suggesting is that Christ is present everywhere and is present in every
person’s life.
As I have mentioned frequently in many columns, I think one of the most important statements that Pope Francis has made during his pontificate is the following: “I am certain that God is part of everyone’s life.” Because Pope Francis is certain, now I am certain. I think this certitude fits in nicely with my view that prayer is hearing and responding to the word of God.
Father Lauder is a philosophy professor at St. John’s University, Jamaica. His new book, “The Cosmic Love Story: God and Us,” is available on Amazon and at Barnes & Noble.