Chapter 8: “A Choir Is a Beautiful Thing”: Peacebuilding and Reconciliation through the Cultivation of Beauty

In the introduction to his revelatory book Beauty, The Invisible Embrace, author John O’Donohue posits that all contemporary crises can be reduced to a crisis about the nature of beauty. “These times,” writes O’Donohue,

The Chinese-born, French essayist, calligrapher, and translator, François Cheng, writing from both a Western and Taoist perspective, fortifies O’Donahue’s premise, writing:

In this essay, I will explore the notion that societal change can—and arguably should—be rooted in an impassioned exploration of beauty. “[One can] find a grounding for justice work in the cultivation of beauty,” writes artist Makoto Fujimura. “An encounter with beauty can show us what could be, and can make us rightly dissatisfied with the way things are. In the face of the undeniable and often unbearable human suffering all around us, we must still affirm beauty and work to make our culture reflect it.”⁶ He concludes that “artists ultimately can reveal new facets of human flourishing even in the midst of tragedy or horror, pointing toward hope and meaning.”⁷