– CS
Lewis
We were sitting in his parents’ basement. It
was a warm Memorial Day weekend and we had been dating for 4 months. He closed
his eyes and pulled the bow over the strings. The most beautiful music came
from the curved wooden frame of the cello. The look on his face was one of
bliss, of being re-united with a lover. The first time Eric played the cello
for me – the
prelude to Bach’s cello suite #1 – I closed my
eyes and let the beauty of the music wash over me. I offered a prayer to God: please
let me always hear him play. Please let me always love this man who loves
beauty.
I married him, so it would seem God
answered my prayer. Beauty is at the heart of every love story. I remember the
first time he called me beautiful. It was during our second date; we had gone
to the Art Institute of Chicago and seen some famous paintings and sculptures.
It was a sunny spring day with a decided chill in the air. We were walking arm
in arm down Michigan Ave. He looked over at me, smiled and said, “You’re
beautiful.” In my head, I gasped.
Any woman who has ever heard the man
she loves tell her she’s beautiful knows, those words are
one of the most powerful drugs in existence. Especially if they are not words
you hear all that often. For me, I couldn’t remember the last time anyone, let
alone a man I liked, called me beautiful. When he said that, and the look in
his eyes confirmed that he meant it, I felt my heart fall into my stomach. I
think you know what I mean. It’s like a butterfly landing on your
shoulder, seeing the tree on Christmas morning, and the first flowers of spring
all rolled into one. To be called beautiful is itself, an experience of
beauty.
To call a woman beautiful, to tell
her that’s who she is resonates with something deep within
her. It doesn’t much matter if the woman is a model or quite plain; it’s
a truth we all want to know. I am beautiful. I am seen. There’s
nothing quite like it.
Dostoevsky once said, “Beauty
will save the world.” Of course, he was right. God is
Beauty. Everything on this earth which is beautiful is ultimately a reflection
of God, who is Beauty, and it is God, the Creator of the world, who has and
will save it. On another level, we can say that the earthly things which are
beautiful have a role to play in saving the world, as anything which is truly beautiful
will draw the mind and heart to think of God’s
grandeur.
So everything, from a symphony to a
spider, has the potential to elicit a response of beauty. Even more than any of
these other works of Creation though, woman has the ability to elicit this
response. Men and women both bear the image of God, yet we do so uniquely as
man or woman.
As women, we bear the image of a God
who is ultimately relational and beautiful. God is, at the core, a relationship
of persons – Father,
Son, and Spirit – and God is, at the core, Beauty
itself.
It’s
not news, but we live in a fallen world which has, among other things,
perverted beauty. Particularly the beauty of a woman. Attacking the beauty of
woman is one of Satan’s purest delights. Instead of woman’s
beauty being a joy to those who know
her, or a balm to soothe the tired souls of man, it has become a weapon by
which we are told to use in order to gain power and control. Instead of being
the relational, deep, inviting peace which God intended from the beginning, we
are told to hone our “power” and “hotness” like a sword
being sharpened for battle.
Social diseases like pornography and
the absurd standards of the fashion industry further invade and manipulate our
notions of what beauty is. It becomes about a waist or cup size, about making
women less human rather than more. It becomes skin-deep, when in reality, it is
the exact opposite. It becomes something exclusionary, rather than the essence
of who we are.
Every woman is beautiful, because we
are created by a God who is Beauty, and we bear His image. For every woman that
exists, there are as many ways to be beautiful. Beauty is not just something we
are, it is what we are destined to be. After the final resurrection, we will
all be transfigured. We will all finally see the beauty that is at our core.
When we embrace our beauty, and place
ourselves in the presence of Beauty itself, we become more beautiful. We bear
the image of God more and more into the world. The light of our beauty shines
through and over the darkness of this world. We can, each in our own way,
overcome the culture of death that surrounds us.
I’m
not saying it’s easy; we all have wounds when it comes to beauty. Mine
run deep. It’s taken many years, thousands of desperate prayers from a
tear-soaked heart, and the power of God’s transforming grace for me to be
able to look in the mirror on a good day and call myself beautiful, and on a
bad day, to silence the chorus of criticism in my head.
We each have our story to tell. Some
are more painful than others, but make no mistake about it: You are
beautiful. In a real, tangible way. You are seen, you are known,
and if you let it, your beauty can change the world.
Sarah Babbs is a married mother of three, including a 3 year old
force of nature and infant twins. She loves chocolate, poetry, whiskey, and
bacon. She tolerates cleaning and laundry. She believes that a good meal, a
good book, and a good album can cure many ills. She blogs about cultivating the
good life through books, beauty, and embracing God’s
bounty. You can read more at https://fumblingtowardgrace.com
Thank you, Sarah!
Sarah, what a wonderful post!
ReplyDeleteThis was fantastic in so very many ways. Thank you, Sarah, for writing!
ReplyDelete"When we embrace our beauty, and place ourselves in the presence of Beauty itself, we become more beautiful. We bear the image of God more and more into the world. The light of our beauty shines through and over the darkness of this world. We can, each in our own way, overcome the culture of death that surrounds us."
ReplyDeleteLove that! Such a great post Sarah. You're beautiful. ;-)
Great post!
ReplyDeleteSarah, this is so great! Thank you for this!
ReplyDeleteThanks for making a pregnant woman bawl in the middle of the afternoon. ;) Great post, Sarah.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Sarah...what you said about Satan attacking woman really reminded me of themes from Amanda's book "Worthy"...beautiful reflections!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this post, Sarah. Thank you!
ReplyDelete