Finding a Place of Beauty at the Time of Death

Finding a Place of Beauty

Providing Pastoral Care at the time of Death



“…for seven weeks I’ve lived in here,Penned up inside this ghetto.But I have found what I love here.The dandelions call to meAnd the white chestnut branches in the court.Only I never saw another butterfly.”

Pavel Friedmann



Why do some see or find beauty in difficult situations and others seem unable to comprehend the beauty?



Why do some look beyond the grief and see the love that is

present in such grief?



Spirituality evokes theholy and can only be described

by those that can see it as a place of beauty.



Beauty beckons to the observer if she/he can see it!



However we describe beauty today, I am sure thatbeauty must have

something to do with God!



Therefore, the demise ofbeauty at anytime must

be equated withan unawareness of God…



Therefore, the demise ofbeauty at anytime must

be equated withan unawareness of God,

because of sin, pain, or ugliness!



So by attempting to define beauty, we are attempting to find

where God is,where He has been,

and/or what He is doing!



If one can develop a working definition of beauty, and if

beauty is a thing of God, then one can look for it, even in the

most difficult time of death!



While I may be unable to fully define or quantify beauty, I will postulate that we can do so to

the extent it will provide us with tools during difficult times.



My definition draws heavily from two deceased Christian mystics and their Old Testament

understanding of beauty.

John O’Donohue, a 20th Century Celtic Philosopher

Jonathan Edwards, a 19th Century Theologian/Writer



My definition…

One has to have a sense of beauty or, we might say, one

has to experience God's beauty for oneself.

Edwards



My definition…

“[One] does not merely rationally believe that God is glorious, but he has a sense of the gloriousness of

God in his heart.” Edwards



My definition…

Beauty “…begins and ends with God …an extraordinary vision of

the divine Beauty replicating itself in all of creation.”

Edwards



My definition…

“God is Beauty!” O’Donohue



My definition…

Beauty is a “…sense of the divine being and character, as well as the

works of God, and to define beauty in terms of the excellence and

glory of God.” Moore



My definition…

“One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord

all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord…”

Psalms 27:4



My definition…

“God is God,and distinguished from allother beings and exaltedabove them, chiefly by

His divine beauty.” Edwards



A Practical Side Step…

The aura of beauty that is experienced at death is that

remaining connection from those previous moment(s) of love where

real beauty was found.




Consider…Hymns




Consider…Hymns

Scriptures




Consider…Hymns

ScripturesPrayers




It is the minister’s job at the time of death to provide the vehicle, trigger the aura, or hold up the

mirror that allows/helps the dying to find such a place of beauty.




“It is the duty of the contemplative to give beauty away so that the rest of

the world may, in the midst of squalor, ugliness, and pain, remember that

beauty is possible .”Chittister



The chaplain’s job is simple: hold upa mirror in which to reflect God’s

image, create a space to see those holy moments of beauty that already exist, and

share the inclination of humanity as it bends towards beauty as a

plant towards sunlight.



An Old Testament Definition…

All OT writersrelate the idea of all beauty with the beauty of God.




“…behold the beauty of the Lord…”Psalms 27:4




“Out of Zion,the perfection of beauty,

God hath shined.”Psalms 50:2




“…worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.”

Psalms 29:2




“But thou art holy,thou that inhabits the

praises of Israel.”Psalms 22:3




Not only does a God that is beauty inhabit people… but His very

creation is created in His image and it was good!




“The whole of creation, functioning according to its intended purposes, in harmony and fruitfulness, is said

to be beautiful.” Moore




The beauty of the Lord our God is upon His creation and has

established that His ongoing creative work is beautiful!




“And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us: and establish thou

the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands

establish thou it.” Psalms 90:17



Definition:

God is beauty;His holy creation is beauty; and

His creation has become co-creators in His ongoing work.



God is Beauty

Their On-going Co-creation is

Beauty

His Creation is Beauty



Where is this beauty when the sometimes-horrific realities of

life are present?



“…the demise of beauty is the result of the loss of regard for God,

then the hope for a recovery of beauty is somehow linked with restoration of respect for God.”

Moore



A “…persistent longing for beauty can serve as a starting-point…”

or a place of awakening “…a true sense of beauty in this age of

ugliness and death.”Moore



The chaplain’s job is simple: hold upa mirror in which to reflect God’s

image, create a space to see those holy moments of beauty that already exist, and

share the inclination of humanity as it bends towards beauty as a

plant towards sunlight.



Genesis 1:27

God created human beings;he created them godlike,Reflecting God’s nature.



When I look into theface of the dyingI am looking intothe face of God!



Definition:

For a complete workup of my definition of beauty, see my blog…

deathministry.blogspot.com

Finding a Place of Beauty at the Time of Death

Spiritual

Transcript of Finding a Place of Beauty at the Time of Death