I awkwardly steered my overloaded shopping cart into a checkout aisle and patiently waited for the line to dissolve. Grocery shopping always exhausts me. Maybe it's because I wait until we are scrapping the cupboards for breadcrumbs before I head to the store, forcing me to create my own mini-Everest inside a shopping cart. (New Year's Resolution #317: get better at meal planning!) I leaned against the cart as I waited in hopes of catching a second wind when my eyes met the sleek, outspoken magazine covers glaring from their shelves.Oh those glossy, air-brushed faces begged for me to look, admire, and compare. Their hair, skin, eyes, complexion, curves and clothing (or lack thereof) seeped with a perfection I obviously lack. And not only did they assault my vision with the silhouettes of modern attraction but they also tempted my reasoning with vain promises: "Loose 10lbs in just 10 days!", "Ways to look younger in minutes!", "The body he dreams of!", "Tame your tummy!" and much, much more disgusting propaganda. It was here amidst my innocent quest for carrots, sour cream, and dishwasher detergent that I realized, perhaps with more consciousness than I've had in a while, that our culture is entirely obsessed with superficial beauty. And it's slowly corrupting us.
Almost everyday we are forced to decide between valuing and gravitating toward worldly attractiveness versus a holy beauty. We obviously recognize what the world considers beautiful. Go to the mall and look at the mannequins or stop by your local convenient store and pick up a magazine. Or better yet, observe the confused and insecure young women speckled across our nation who find their identity and value by how closely they can imitate the women plastered across those magazine covers.
Worldly beauty always flaunts itself -- so it's easy to spot. At it's core it is selfish and arrogant. "Just look at me" it demands. And with enough make-up, hairspray, designer clothes, and maybe even a little surgery (or at least a good editing software), you could attain to this fickle description of beauty. Yes, this paragon may turn a few heads, but their fascination will travel only as deep as your bronze-tinted foundation.
In the end, physical beauty (which is all the world seems to value) doesn't last. All the wrinkle cream, anti-age scrubs, and hair color in the world can't dilute the truth that physical beauty fades. "Charm is deceitful, beauty is vain..." (Prov. 31:30) But this is no cause for panic (so take a deep breath). God has an entirely different purpose and measure for beauty -- a beauty that speaks of permanence and holiness instead of shallowness and vanity.
(To be continued...)
