Have you ever been on the beach at sunset? I remember years ago being on the beach at LaJolla, California on a family trip. It was evening and as the sun was setting, it cast a brilliant glow over the Pacific Ocean. No amount of words can describe the beauty we saw that evening, but what struck me was that everyone on the beach had the same reaction. We all stopped what we were doing and just stared at the magnificence of that fleeting moment. You’ve seen it too, beauty that is dazzling. Once, during my neurosurgery residency, I had a long spell of working on call and went for several weeks without leaving the hospital except at night. Then on my first Saturday off, I drove through the Virginia countryside while the autumn leaves were at their peak. My eyes could almost feel the color! It was a stunning beauty that even a photographer could not capture.

And it occurred to me while visiting with a patient that the perception of beauty really is a litmus test for mental health. If a person does not see or perceive beauty, then we call the doctors to see what’s wrong. Depression, dementia, brain damage, serious psychological problems—these cause us to lose our ability to appreciate beauty. Now here is the interesting part: nobody who enjoys good mental health ever argues that beauty does not exist. In fact, even the most hardhearted atheist can’t help appreciate a gorgeous sunset or the mountains in springtime. So where does that come from? The ability to perceive beauty—or ugliness—comes from God’s Spirit, infused when he made us all in his image. That is what separates us from the animals. We know right from wrong. We recognize the difference between lovely and filthy. It was Margaret Wolfe Hungerford who first penned the phrase, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” But I would argue that this trite phrase applies to manmade beauty, not the real thing. ”The genuine article,” universally appreciated by the mentally sound, are the glimpses of Heaven which take your breath away, and I think is a clue to the very heart of God.