Beauty and the Park Commission

If you have ever appreciated the random symmetry of a well-stacked wood pile, then perhaps you can relate to its applicability in other spheres of life.

The author, Pearl S. Buck, in an article for a Sunday newspaper insert – it may have been PARADE – was asked what beauty is. Quite simply she responded, “Beauty is order.” Consider an example: The essence of the beauty of a rose is the shape and color of its petals, together with the geometrically proportioned manner in which they are arranged, that makes an enthusiast gaze upon it in focused admiration.

In a different dimension, think about how many times you yourself may have uttered the expression, ‘beautiful!’ when you have concluded a successful meeting, completed a job around the house, or have watched children cooperatively at play. Was it really the physical aspect of the situation that made you consider the event ‘beautiful,’ or was it the experience of having felt a well-ordered human process at work?

Translated to other ordinary events in life, such as a political assembly, a key factor that can make such a meeting ‘beautiful’ is the consideration and respect for the public interest which should be inherent in open deliberations and in the outcome of that gathering.

Perhaps that is why, when we see that Somerset County Park Commission employees have been provided homes at below-market rates, we instinctively feel that the proper order of things has been disrupted, and we cry, “Foul!”

Not so beautiful.