A Beautiful People
One thing that I find really interesting is that almost from the beginning, women are the only ones to whom beauty is attributed. With the exception of Greek mythological personas such as Adonis (who had goddesses actually worshipping the ground he walks on), Narcissus (who fell in love with himself, the jerk), and Cupid (whose enormous white wings seemed to enhance his looks rather than make people think he’s just a mutated chicken), it’s the females who usually have the “beautiful” attached to their names. I’m not saying this to insult mankind (perish the thought) but as a simple fact. Guys do get called a variety of adjectives to describe their attractiveness: handsome, pretty boy, good-looking, attractive piece of flesh, hot (no matter how you spell it), and (here’s the clincher) sexy. Sure. However, if people (and not just half of the population) begin to really think about that, they might just get as frustrated with the situation as me – and not just because men aren’t called beautiful, but on how society perceives what beauty is, in general.
I’m not a hypocrite. Being a regular kind of girl, I do find some men attractive. Hey, a few people have heard me gush about this or that celebrity. The thing is, though, I only appreciate their physical appearance, and nothing more, which is sadly how the world looks upon beauty these days – something’s that’s just skin-deep, as cliché as it may sound. Maybe that’s why men aren’t called beautiful by the masses, because women, perceived (there’s that word again) as the fairer sex, are generally thought to be so. This point-of-view, like so many things in the world right now, are just matters of opinion, that have taken root in the minds of people quite a long time ago already that it has gotten accepted as the truth. Look at it this way, though: humans have also thought that the sun revolves around the earth, but that’s not factual. They’ve assumed that man will never be able to fly, but we have airplanes, hang gliders, helicopters, etc. to disprove that. Just because it’s general belief doesn’t make it true, and the same goes with the perception of beauty.
If beauty isn’t physical attractiveness, then, what is it? Let’s take a look at the most beautiful person who has and ever will live, and who I know personally. And yes, he is a man. He is a person who doesn’t care about what other people might say about him, just so long as he does what he knows is right. You will never hear him bad-mouth anyone just to look cool or to put himself above others. Instead, he will help the people around him (even if they’ve tried to bring him down), because he genuinely wants to see them happy. He is a perfect gentleman who will never lift his hand not only against a female, but to anyone or anything, and especially not in a fit of anger. He is one who will go out of his way to help others, not to get something in return but because it’s something that he genuinely wants to do. He doesn’t pretend to be anyone else but himself. Even if people have hurt him time and time again, he will readily forgive them, and even before they ask for it. As a human being, he has emotions: he gets angry, hurt, frustrated, upset, happy, and all these, but he knows well enough when to act on these and when to pull the reins in.
You want to know who this person is? His name is Jesus. Read through the Gospels, and you’ll know that all of these are true. If you don’t have the time to go through all four books, read 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, of which I loosely based my descriptions on, and God is love (1 Jn 4:8). This is what true beauty is: love. Yes, it does sound cheesy and would sound right at home tucked within the packaging of a Hallmark card, but this is the truth. What can be more beautiful than this, which is so pure and amazing and true? It’s not a matter of the amount or brand of make-up or clothes that you wear that makes you truly attractive. It’s not based on gender or skin color or riches. It’s the soul of the person that matters, because this is what is capable of loving, and is what belongs to God. Men and women can be beautiful in Him.
Do you want to be truly attractive? My beauty tip: follow God. You only have to look at the faces of the believers to know that this is the truth: there’s an inner glow in every Christian that will never be matched by any cosmetic in the world, and the best thing about it is that it’s free, and you can get it anytime and every time you need it.
A Beautiful People
We are a beautiful people,
A people of the one true King
We are a beautiful people,
Caught in arms of grace and love
We are a beautiful people,
And faith is our aesthetics
We are a beautiful people,
Cloaked by righteousness that isn’t ours
We are a beautiful people,
Our faces shine because of inner peace
We are a beautiful people,
With smiles brought by joy
We are a beautiful people,
Our hands covered not with rings but with gentleness
We are a beautiful people,
We are beautiful.
*Note: The grammar (like this entry’s title) has been deliberately written like that, and is not a result of an oversight.
