The Way of Beauty

The readings from the Book of Wisdom have got me thinking about Mike, the teenaged seeker who cast a net on YouTube asking Catholics for guidance, and ended up (for the present) as a cool and very secure (I don't want to say smug) athiest. (Saddest of all, a local catechist whom Mike came to with his questions now declares herself an agnostic--all in the course of ten months!) Mike's comments on YouTube trot out a lot of the old, tired "reasons" against God and religion, most of which are beside the point. (For example, pointing to the more barbarous sections of the Bible as testimony against Christianity, and totally avoiding the Gospels and the person of Jesus.) But what strikes me, in the light of the readings from Wisdom, is that the strictly intellectual approach lacks an appreciation of wisdom, and its way of beauty. That's what today's reading points out: God, "the original source of beauty" is revealed in the beauty and order of creation.
Take time for beauty! It will nourish your faith!