Why Do We.....

Did this at the VERITAS Coffeehouse on 3/20...it's been on my mind a lot lately. It definitely comes off different when spoken but you should get the point :).

Why do we, who
possess natural, intense beauty
depend on artificial beauty
to define who we are?

Ok…true life…this is me.
I wake up in the morning
look in the mirror
“bleh”.
I’ve got to do something about these spots on my skin
and add some color to my eyes,
comb my hair this way (wait, no, that way),
make sure the lip gloss is poppin’
and this is just the first level of defense.

Clothes…
“omg, I have nothing to wear!”
my thoughts as clothes bust out my drawer
(Lord, I could use a lesson on living a simple life).
So I put this shirt with this shirt,
but this shirt is kinda ugly, and if I wear that one,
I can’t wear those jeans. But do those jeans make me fat?
No, those are the “too loose” ones.why so serious??? Ugh.

Ok…so once fully dressed, I look in the mirror
and resolve myself that I’m not Beyonce or Tyra (Banks),
and I’m ready to go.
sure, I’m not satisfied but who ever is?

Walk out my dorm and look around…and here’s when the real circus begins
“omg…I want her shoes.”, “Those pants go so nicely with her skin tone.”
“I need to get me those glasses.”
ALL DAY LONG. I’m tired.

Rarely do I stop to ever think that God created me, me, for a purpose.
That every skin cell, every curve, and even every perceived flaw was all in His master design.
rarely do I stop to question my motives for even questioning myself…
by who’s values were these values that I’m holding myself to created.
(Clearly it’s someone who wanted me to go crazy.)

Why is it that I spend more hours in the day caring about if someone
looks at me and sees something aesthetically pleasing rather than someone intellectually stimulating,
and why is it that I’d rather have someone refer to me as “sweetheart” rather than “sister”.
(I mean it just runs across my mind…sometimes…not too often though).

Why is it that I predict how people see me before I actually know
and just because nothing’s said I assume the worst?
What is it in me that longs for the artificial attention artificial beauty brings rather than
intricate attention the Father gives because He intricately created me in the image of Beauty
because He is the standard of Beauty.

Look around you, (especially in the past few days) State College has been such a pleasant place
because with the sun out you can see the natural aura that surrounds this place.
The wind blowing playfully, the trees dancing and the leaves singing the chorus of Nature’s song,
the mountains laid out in a marvelous landscape surrounding the city,
few can imitate this…and yet the Creator of these masterful works
created me too and I look in the mirror in disgust sometimes.
What does that say to Him? Better yet, what does that say to me?

You are beautiful.
I’ve been given permission by the creator of beauty to use that word for you.
(I have no clue who gave these other people the permission…)
You are unique and you are you. If you don’t hear it enough, come to me, I’ll tell you.
Don’t trick yourselves…beauty’s not in the eye of the beholder.
That’s probably the most selfish statement I’ve heard.
If someone does not see the beauty they possess, it can be hard to see it in others.
And there’s no standard of beauty…being 5’10 with light skin, a lean mean body, and extensions in your hair is NOT the “it” thing.
Beauty is not ONLY skin deep…God didn’t create it to be just skin deep.
Rather, it is truly a process of the interior moving to the exterior.

Just to prove my point…why can an attractive woman be considered beautiful until she opens her mouth?
After that, she can just be considered pretty.
It’s the content of what’s coming from her mouth
(remember the Word: Out of the mouth the abundance of the heart speaks)
that is the breaking point for beauty.
So in a society that’s great for contradictions, I wouldn’t be so quick to take their word about beauty.
He made you. He knows you. He loves you. And you’re beautiful!

Remember the words of Isaiah 53:2, "He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him."
Jesus is still our Beautiful Savior...and He's our Beautiful Savior because of His actions towards us, not His physical attractiveness to us.

Another one for the beautiful people,
Ash B.