Where Is Beauty?

Where is beauty anyway? This week I've been distressed by some news, two stories in particular have me concerned.

1. Women & girls are going to lay people in hotel rooms & back alley places to get silicone injections to make themselves have a more "beautiful" body part - you fill in the blank as to which parts _____ . Some are even flying to the USA from across the pond. They are dying from the injections of silicone, which are purchased in hardware stores & drug stores! Silicone is poison for humans. If injected into the buttocks, the large blood vessels can carry it to heart & lungs in minutes & cause death. For most so desparate for "beauty" the best case scenario is disfigurment & pain.
2. A teen beauty pagent winner is being threatened with loss of her crown because she is now a size 2 & a bit bigger than her pageant clothes.
3. And remember from a few years back the lady who had multiple surgeries to look like the plastic doll, Barbie.

I'm sure you can think of more examples of the same phenonmenon. Have humans collectively gone mad?


In my opinion the problem lies in several laps.

• First, we have many, particularly women, with low self-image, poor self-love, the need to look gorgeous on the outside because they feel so inferior on the inside.
• Then there is the need to look young because society doesn't see the beauty in aging women. There is little honor given to our elders, to their wisdom, to their experiences, & yes to those sags & wrinkles that stand for a life lived.
• Also, we have seen a decline in church attendance coupled with an increase in shallow movies, tv & music, & an increase in immorality - an everything goes mentality. The deep spiritual values seeded in the hearts of the young are not being seeded in the majority of instances. Sunday morning is no longer reserved for church, because so many churches have become irrelevant. Sunday mornings are reserved for other things deemed more important than growing spiritually & being part of the community of Christ -- the Sunday paper, sporting events, personal sports such as skiing or basketball, sleeping in, etc., etc., etc.

With the coarsening of society, true beauty is lost. It is not in silicone injections so that one's body has a round behind. It is not being a size 0. It is not in anything exterior at all.


I suggest that beauty is inside. It is an inner glow that turns into a radiance in people who are devoted to a spiritual journey. A person with such a glow is beautiful, no matter what the details of the outer form shape up to be or not be. With rampant neglect to the spiritual journey, we forget what beauty really is, & we seek polyester beauty. No matter how wrinkle resistant polyester is, it can never be silk. No matter how much we do to the outside, we can only achieve radiance & true beauty by devotion to the spiritual journey.


Lord, help me develop inner beauty. Lead me to where You would have me be. Surround me with people who can take my hand & lead me into a deeper walk with YOU. Help me release that which is shallow in me. Help me embrace inner beauty in myself & in others.