I was blessed to have great arts and religion professors in school who encouraged me to integrate the two areas in my own heart and mind.

I remember one of my favorite professors—i had several (two active rabbis and another a great artist)-advising me not to become a philosophy major because i would forever be asking: Why is there everything, instead of nothing—and that would drive me crazy. “Study, religion there is more hope and ritual in it.”

I did, and was able to escape college with my mind and heart in tact! Thanks Dr Coleman for that, and for this new book collecting your thoughts on beauty, art and spirituality!

Earle Coleman is also a great magician, humorist, and scholar of St Francis and Martin Buber—he brought magic and those two great men under the same roof in his thinking!

Still remember reading Buber from the German and studying St Francis’ way, as a true pathway. Just the thought that you could bring a catholic mystic and mystical Jew into the same discussion on art and beauty, made me happy then and now. Some teachers put things in you that you never forget!

Dr Coleman in addition to writing many articles on aesthetics and spirituality, was also a great magician and humorist. He had thousands of jokes catalogued in his mind, and could pull them from almost any culture. Thankful for great teachers and models along the way today!

Here is his latest book on spirituality and art. He’s clearly a philosopher of religion and art, so some may find his writing dense, but i love what he has been bringing under the same roof for so many years. And he is a kind and generous scholar! Would always stop his day to answer my odd questions back then.

Fun to re-discover his thinking on line today! https://books.google.com/books?id=MKOERo1EEWsC&pg=PA110&lpg=PA110&dq=beauty+is+in+the+I+of+the+beholder+Earle+Coleman&source=bl&ots=M0CKNZ9WBn&sig=IhTJCvts7r02QE6FY2ei_mJxp_o&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjD1v-T7ZPXAhVnw4MKHRq0BNYQ6AEILTAC#v=onepage&q=beauty%20is%20in%20the%20I%20of%20the%20beholder%20Earle%20Coleman&f=false He’s been working on these for around 40 years! Beauty is neither fully subjective, or fully objective, it occurs relationally in an atmosphere and orientation of Love towards other, would be one statement of his basic thesis.

He has many great quotes about beauty in his book. I love collecting quotes. Here are a few I liked:
“Beauty is that which illumines.” Thomas Aquainus
“Beauty is the Real seen with Love.” Evelyn Underhill
“Things, being themselves, are beautiful.” St Francis

And many others…I love thinking about beauty as relational, which is basically what the book is about. That beauty is somewhere in between the I and the Thou, and has to do with the depth to which we are willing to encounter other, and the amount of Love we bring to the encounter. It is both in the I of the beholder, and in that which is beheld. God turns out to be relational, so is beauty and religion, Earle would say!