Why Do We Love Beauty so Much?

I was praying my rosary in the chapel today after meeting with a friend. We're reading Captivating by Jon & Stasi Eldredge together, and the chapter we talked about today dealt with beauty, and I was struck by a couple things.

Sunrise

The book poses the question: what does woman teach about God?
One of the answers is beauty. Beauty is the essence of a woman; it is also the essence of God. Think about this world - we see beauty in nature - there is just something breath-taking about being in the woods, or on a mountain, or watching the sunrise over the ocean. One of my favorite life experiences was watching the sun rise over the ocean with two of my dearest and closest friends.  The picture doesn't do the beauty of the experience justice, but gives you an idea.
I often get restless and make a drive down to hocking hills hiking trails because I long to encounter the beauty of God in His creation.

Beauty does many things - it says all shall be well, it invites, it nourishes, it inspires, it comforts. But beauty is probably the most misunderstood aspect of woman, and of God. It is distorted by our world, ourselves, and the devil. The devil doesn't want us to know the Lord, and beauty is essential to who God is, of course he's going to distort beauty. Our world has different perceptions of beauty. As time goes on and cultures change, the definition of beauty changes. If we don't meet the standard of what is considered beautiful we try to change our bodies.

A friend of mine once said "well Joe (not actual name) said I looked beautiful with make-up on, but he's my boyfriend so he has to say that." So I asked one of my guy friends to explain to me why guys say a girl is beautiful without make-up because we all know make-up has the ability to make us look more attractive physically. And my friend said that when a woman isn't wearing make-up it allows a man to look beyond her exterior beauty and see the beauty of her and her soul, the beauty of her feminine heart (those weren't his words exactly).

Yet women constantly feel they don't measure up. We ask am I lovely? Am I worthy to be delighted in? Do I captivate you?

Most women doubt that they have any beauty to offer the world. So we are tired - women as a whole are tired and worn down because they are hiding from their fear they have nothing to offer this world.

In ministry, the classic,basic women's session is you are beautiful. And I can't tell you the number of times I found out beauty was the topic at hand and I was annoyed and frustrated - ughh I get it, I'm beautiful yada yada yada... 

However, I don't think we get it. If we did get it, leaders wouldn't feel the need to address this topic.
Beauty is the essence of who we are. We have to do nothing in order to be beautiful. In how God created us to be, we are beautiful. But we don't get it... we don't believe that truth. We question we doubt, we feel insecure. Our beauty is good. It does good things, it teaches the world about God.
Why do we live in a world obsessed with beauty? Because beauty is essential to who God is, and it is one of the ways God teaches his people about himself through women.

Therefore, my sisters, you are beautiful. Just as you are. You don't need to strive. By being who God created you to be, you will set the world on fire. Embrace the gifts, the beauty of your heart to offer beauty, comfort, inspiration to he world. In a world obsessed with beauty, don't be afraid to embrace your beauty!

"In each person there is an invaluable treasure, a facet of the face of Christ that can't be found in anyone else." 

-Fr. Michael Gaitley-

Talitha Koum

"Talitha koum, little girl I say to you arise." Mk 5:41

The other night I asked the Lord to show me that I am His beloved. I'd had a conversation with a friend, and realized that I wasn't dwelling in the Lord, I was claiming my identity as His beloved daughter. I needed him to remind me that I am his beloved. The gospel says ask, and you shall receive. 

Once I asked the Lord, He delivered. Mk 5:41 came to mind first. Rising out of darkness has been a theme for me in my Christian life. I don't know about you, but those last 2 weeks of February were ROUGH... I had a severe case of the February blues (as I'm going to call them). Not only in my mood, and my emotions, but also in my prayer. I wasn't listening very much. I did a lot of talking. I missed a day or two as well. It was rough goings. I'm convinced my conversation with my friend Thursday morning was divine intervention. 

As I started dwelling on what this phrase meant to me in this moment I was convicted the Lord
was...is calling me (and you) out of darkness. He is calling us out of self-deprecating thoughts. He is calling us to rise out of darkness, sullenness. He is calling us out of our feelings of inadequacy, depression, loneliness. He is calling us to rise to the life He offers us. He offers us light. He offers us life abundant, life everlasting. He wants to take what is dead in us and bring it to new life. He wants to restore us. 

As Christians, we are called to be a people of joy. Joy is not an emotion or feeling, however. It is a choice. It is a choice because it comes from knowing we are God's beloved children. It comes from finding our satisfaction and our fulfillment in the love of the Lord. Joy is a state of mind and an orientation of the heart. It is a settled state of contentment, confidence and hope (definition found here). 

Pope Francis kind of covers a lot of what I want to say, so I'm just going to quote him here: 

“God thinks of each of us and loves each of us. He ‘dreams’ about us. He dreams of how He will rejoice with us. That’s why the Lord wants to ‘re-create’ us, He wants to renew our hearts so that joy can triumph:

“Have you thought about it? The Lord dreams of me! He thinks of me! I am in the Lord’s mind and in His heart! The Lord can change my life! And he has many projects: ‘we will build houses and plant vineyards, we will share our meals’… these are the dreams of someone who is in love…. Thus we can see that the Lord is in love with his people. And when he says to his people: ‘I haven’t chosen you because you are the strongest, the biggest, the most powerful. I have chosen you because you are the smallest of them all. You could add: the most miserable. This is whom I have chosen’. This is love”.

God “is in love with us” – Francis repeated, as he commented on the Gospel reading that speaks of the miraculous healing of the son of a Royal official:

“I don’t think a theologian exists who can explain this: it is impossible to explain. We can only think about it, we can feel, we can cry with joy. The Lord can change us. ‘And what must I do?’ Believe. I must believe that the Lord can change me, that He has the power to do so: just like the man in the Gospel whose son was sick. ‘Sir, come down before my child dies’. ‘You may go (Jesus said to him). Your son will live!’ That man believed in the words of Jesus and had set off. He believed. He believed that Jesus had the power to change his child, the health of his child. And he won. To have faith is to make space for God’s love, to make space for his power, for God’s power. Not for the power of a powerful person, but for the power of one who loves me, who is in love with me and who wants to rejoice with me. This is faith. This is believing: making space for the Lord so that he can come and change me”.

This love, this joy that Pope Francis talks about - this abundant life I mentioned, is offered to each and every one of us. The Father is offering us His hand, little girl I say to you arise, He is offering to help us up. He is victorious. Because of the cross, we know the Lord has been victorious. Now we must take claim to that victory!