Thoughts

A Reflection on Physical Beauty

Beauty is not jaw-dropping model or movie star pretty, which is in many cases a false beauty available only to those with eating disorders or lots of money for plastic surgery and personal trainers. Pretty is not beauty. “Why is a Thomas Kinkade painting not beautiful, only pretty? Because it’s a lie. There are no imperfections, no reality checks. It is afraid to tell the truth, afraid to do the hard work of beauty thinking and beauty living.”*

Why is the cross of Christ beautiful, but not pretty? Not because it’s a medieval form of excruciating torture, but because it tells the entire truth: the story of a God who loved us so much that He would go to unthinkable extremes to show us that love. The cross is beautiful because it reveals true love, unconditional love.

Beauty is more than Skin Deep

The connection that exists between beautiful faces and beautiful souls is often shattered, as some people who are physically beautiful don’t feel any need to develop a personality. “Beautiful” people can be some of the ugliest people you meet.

Blemishes often come to be known as beauty marks. When a person reflects on Marilyn Monroe, for instance, they think of her beauty mark: a literal mole right above her lip. Or, how about thoughts of Lauren Bacall, what comes to mind is her unique beauty “mark,” the small gap between her teeth. The same thing is true for the scar on Roger Moore’s face and Robert DeNiro’s “collection” of moles. Beauty is a matter of the soul. As blemished as all of us are, we all still have the potential to be beauty marks for God.

Something to Think About

“The English word miracle comes from the Latin words micro (‘to wonder’) and mirus (‘wonderful’). It’s the same root from which we get the word mirror. When you look in the mirror, do you wonder and admire the one-of-a-kind miracle you are? Or when you look in the mirror, do you see more of a copy than copyright? Jesus does not want look-alikes, only love-alikes.”

*Sweet, Leonard. The Gospel According to Starbucks, p.57. Waterbrook Press, 2007.
**Ibid, p.58.

Featured Image: Beauty by Leslee Mitchell; CC 2.0

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