"Beauty: Whatever pleases the senses, mind, and heart. True Beauty, however, draws us into relationship with the Divine. Whether it be the beauty of nature, the beauty of virtue or character, the beauty of anything, it is a reflection of that ultimate Beauty which is Divine: 'God is beautiful and loves the beautiful' (Hadith Qudsi).

"Ultimately Beauty becomes our point of contact with Love. It is the degree of Spirit in anything that is its beauty. Sometimes we mistake glamor, the imitation of beauty, for real beauty. What is beauty, if it is not purity, radiance, depth?

"Within our own heart we can discover Beauty. We may discover great beauty in contemplation and yet not consider that beauty as originating with ourselves. The qualities which a pure attention perceives are sometimes not qualities that we have known as our own. Love of Beauty, especially spiritual Beauty, connects us to the spirit. What we contemplate, we become.

"This invisible beauty discovered within has a counterpart in the sensible world. The sensible world becomes beautiful to the extent that we are conscious of this invisible beauty within our being.

"Beauty awakens a nostalgia that leads us beyond the world of appearances to new qualities contained within the heart. The qualities latent within our own hearts are Divine Attributes. It is because the Divine Compassion exists to reveal Itself to us, that there exists the possibility of knowing the Infinite by knowing ourselves."