Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Heroic Beauty

Posted by Hello
When I look at photos of Mother Theresa, the descriptive word that always comes to my mind is beautiful. I know she does not measure up to American standards of beauty, but to me she will always be beautiful because I see a sacrificial life of love for God and mankind that transcended outward, fleeting beauty. That type of beauty goes unseen in today's world of superficial and artificial beauty. I am continually in search of female role models in the protestant world, but they are all too few in my mind. Thus far, I have only found one - Marva Dawn. Marva is one of the most brilliantly humble women I have ever met. If you met her on the street, you would never know the degrees she holds or the books she has written, but you would instantly know volumes of her character - her humility, graciousness, patience through adversity, her desire to serve, etc. Marva is truly beautiful. But what about me? Am I a role model for the next generation? Do they see God's beauty in me, or do they see what Merle Norman Cosmetics wants them to see? I do not mean to say that we should all go about our business without any attention to our outward appearance, as I believe that is part of our testimony as well. Nonetheless, our inward beauty should outshine our outward, temporal beauty, and I fear that does not happen often enough. I know it does not occur enough in my life, but it is my heartfelt desire. I want to be known not as an American beauty but as an heroic, Christian beauty. How about you? What are your standards of beauty, and who are your role models? Are you willing to stand alone and be a role model for the next generation? I hope so; your daughters are watching you.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree completely! What is inside, the happy, helpful spirit that will always shine outward is so much more beautiful than anything we can put on our face! :)

God bless!
lottie

CallaLilly said...

Thank you Lottie! It is so good to hear from you. I hope you and your family are well.
Blessings,
Ruthie