Spiritual Beauty

Moses wist not that his face shone/

Exodus xxxiv. 39.

APIRITUAL beauty is loveliest when it is *“”^ unconsciously possessed. Self-conscious virtue is lean and uncrowned. Moses has been closeted with God. The glory of the Lord has been poured upon him, bathing him in unearthly brightness, so that when he returns to the mountain-base his countenance shines like the light. The same transformation is effected every day, and by the same means. Spiritual communion alters the fashion of the countenance. The supreme beauty of a face is its light, and spirituality makes ’ a face illumined.’ The power of a beautiful spirit makes many a plain face lovely. The face of Moses was transfigured by the glory of the Eternal.

But ‘Moses vwist not that his face shone, That is the supreme height of spiritual loveliness; to be lovely, and not to know it. Surely this is a lesson we all need to learn. Virtue is so apt to become self-conscious, and so to lose its glow. Take the grace of humility. Humility is very beautiful when we see it unimpaired. It is exquisite with the loveliness of Christ. But there is a self-conscious humility which is only a very subtle species of pride. It is possible to boast of: our humility. There are men and women whose only source of pride appears to be their modesty. How often we meet with men who, when requested to do some service, immediately hoist the flag of their humility, and declare that they are of the humble sort, and prefer to keep in the shade! Yes, but humility takes the lowest place, and does not know that her face shines. Pride can take the lowest place, and find her delight in the thought of her presumably shining face. Self-consciousness always tends to sour humility, and pervert it into pride. * Moses wist not that his face shone/

Take another example, the grace of philanthropy, or charity, as it is commonly called. Charity is a lovely adornment of the Christian eye, but if charity be self-conscious it loses all

its charm. The Master says that true charity does not let the left hand know what the right hand doeth. Observe, the counsel is not merely — do not sound a trumpet before thee 1 It is not merely — do not talk about thy giving to thy fellows! Charity is a far more exquisite grace. The counsel is this — do not talk about thy giving to thyself. Do not let it be done in a boastful self-consciousness, or its beauty is at once impaired.

It is even so with the whole shining multitude of virtues and graces. No virtue has its full strength and beauty until its possession is unnoticed by its owner. When we wear a virtue consciously, it argues that the virtue is unfamiliar to us, just as we walk selfconsciously in a new and unaccustomed dress. Virtue must become so customary as to be unconsciously worn. We must speak the truth as unconsciously as we breathe. We must wear the garment of humility as unconsciously as we breathe. Our faces must shine, and we must be unconscious of the glory 1

And so it is that the problem shapes itself thus — we must become so absorbed in God as to forget ourselves. We cannot gaze much upon God’s face and remain very conscious of ourselves. ‘We all, beholding

as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory.’ Contemplation brings transformation. ‘He will beautify the meek with salvation.’ Let us lose ourselves in God.