In our last Current Events essay (# 70) we alleged that political, economic and military power fades quickly and provides no viable foundation for a sustainable human community. In the context of Simple Reality we affirm that truth and beauty are among the principles that nurture a higher functioning state of being if we want to reduce human suffering and avoid self-destruction.
Gustavo Dudamel, the conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, also believes in the authentic power of truth and beauty to transform human behavior. When he raises his arms to conduct, many of us can feel the “magic” of the true believers. “He shook his fist like a king defying god, and happy avalanches crashed down upon the empty seats. This was what he loved, the plummet and swell of it, the rumble, the hush, the roar when he lifted his arms. The beauty! The joy! The music!” (1)
“The hope of human freedom lives in art. The world will change—he believes this sincerely—if people will only listen.” (1) But to whom or to what should people be listening? We can listen to our artists, those who create beauty, but we can also listen to the artist, the creator within each of us. Once again, we hear about the unique sensibility of the artist within Gustavo Dudamel: “He believes in truth too, and in joy—especially in joy—and in the brotherhood of humankind and the freedom of the human spirit.” (1)
Insight # 71: Art is the expression of the human aspiration not to make something beautiful but to become something beautiful. –Roy Charles Henry
Link:
- Art essay found on this blog and in The ABC’s of Simple Reality, by Roy Charles Henry (2018), page 31.
- Beauty essay found on this blog in The ABC’s of Simple Reality, by Roy Charles Henry (2018), page 38.
Reference:
- Phillips, Brian. “The Electric Conductor.” The New York Times Magazine. November 4, 2018, page 60.
