Plato's Wish by J. R. Miller You are absolutely
beautiful, my beloved. There is no flaw in you. Song
of Songs 4, verse 7 Plato expressed a desire that the moral law might
become a living personage, that men seeing it thus incarnate
might be charmed by its beauty. Plato's wish was fulfilled in
Jesus Christ. The holiness and the beauty of
the divine law were revealed in him. The Beatitudes contain
an outline of the ideal life, but the Beatitudes are only a
transcript of the life of Christ himself. What he taught about
love was but his own love stated in a course of living lessons
for his friends to learn. When he said that we should be
patient, gentle, thoughtful, forgiving, and kind, he was only
saying, follow me. If we could gather from the most
godly people who ever have lived, the little fragments of lovely
character which have blossomed out in each, and bring all these
fragments into one personality, we would have the beauty of Jesus
Christ. In one person you find gentleness,
in another meekness, in another purity of heart, in another humility,
in another kindness, in another patience. But in the holiest
of men there are only two or three qualities of ideal beauty,
along with much that is stained and blemished mingled with these
qualities. In Christ, however, all that
is excellent is found with no flaw. You are absolutely beautiful,
my beloved. There is no flaw in you.