A Thing of Beauty is a Joy forever

The music industry of Pakistan used to be pretty basic and mundane and complex at the same time.  While some parodied and styled their music after the western tunes (basic and mundane) others excelled in the Sufi and classical genres of Sub-Continent’s music (complex).  Along with these two options was the choice to gravitate towards the western and Bollywood (Indian film industry) music.  Michael Jackson, Boney M, Lionel Richie, Prince, Dire Straits, Queen to name the few were the artists, I grew up with.  One of the distributor of the music always placed the same sticker on either side of the cassette. ‘A Thing of a Beauty is a Joy Forever’, was the line on this plain sticker.  This simple line stayed with me and eventually became a measuring stick for every event of and in my life to determine if the event was a thing of beauty or not. And if it was a thing of beauty then, I was certain,  joy will be mine forever.

This affection of the line led me to learn that it comes from 'Endymion', a poem by John Keats which was first published in 1818. First line of Endymion is 'A thing of beauty is a joy for ever'. Endymion is written in rhyming couplets in iambic pentameter (also known as heroic couplets). Keats based the poem on the Greek myth of Endymion, the shepherd beloved by the moon goddess Selene. The poem elaborates on the original story and renames Selene "Cynthia" (an alternative name for Artemis).  It starts by painting a rustic scene of trees, rivers, shepherds, and sheep. The shepherds gather around an altar and pray to Pan, god of shepherds and flocks. As the youth sing and dance, the elder men sit and talk about what life would be like in the shades of Elysium. However, Endymion, the "brain-sick shepherd-prince" of Mt. Latmos, is in a trancelike state, and not participating in their discourse. His sister, Peona, takes him away and brings him to her resting place where he sleeps. After he wakes, he tells Peona of his encounter with Cynthia, and how much he loved her.  That led Endymion to proclaim, ‘A thing of beauty is a joy forever’.  Some of the lines from Endymion are as follows:

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:

Its loveliness increases; it will never

Pass into nothingness; but still will keep

A bower quiet for us, and a sleep

Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.

Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing

A flowery band to bind us to the earth.

This line can be a measuring stick for churches.  The purpose of the Church is to bring people from various walks of life into a community committed to serve God by worshipping him with a sincere heart and to live out that faith, acceptance, love and joy in their day to day life and activities.  This is an enormous yet humbling undertaking and call for every member of the community.