Day 5 - Perfectly Unattainable Perfections

Beauty Misconception: The Perfect Face 

"God be gracious to us and bless us, And cause His face to shine upon us."

(Psalm 67:1)

The emotion of the heart of man is expressed and made known to others through the face. The human face has a complexity of expressions that tell us more about a person then a multitude of words. Just look at the number of emojis on your phone and you will see that we can have an entire conversation without any words at all! God created the human face to express the soul in a intricate and beautiful way.  Of course, this means that our faces draw the attention of others. As women we place a great deal of emphasis on what our faces look like, because we know that people will be observing them. Our insecurities can take over and before we know it we've traded the expression of beautiful emotion for exterior glamour. We convince ourselves that to be beautiful we have to have a perfect face.

I recently came across a women's magazine special edition on plastic surgery. The article went into extensive detail about what is necessary to have the "perfect" face. I was disgusted to find that to be beautiful (by these professionals standards), I would need an absolutely symmetrical face and a chin that comes to precise angle. They even had the angle figured to the tenth degree. The pictures and descriptions went on and on, perfectly unattainable perfections... without plastic surgery that is.  The question arises, why?  Why would we look so closely at the face and seek to perfect it in this way? The face has great power, power to convey who we are and what we feel. If we do not know who we are and who we are meant to become, then we can easily get lost in the details of exterior perfection, because they hide the absence of interior perfection. We were created in God's image, and our beauty reveals God to the world. When we focus on interior perfection, the face becomes the expression of God's love. This is the perfect face that we should strive to give others to observe. When people look at us, do they see the face of God? 

If we express our souls through our bodies, then we break through the world's perceptions of beauty. For instance, the world tells us that wrinkles are to be avoided at all costs. As we age, we should spend thousands of dollars on special creams and procedures to ward off any signs of aging. Yet, any one in the world could look at Mother Teresa with her aging wrinkled face and see her beauty. She was so full of love and holy. She brought joy to everyone she met with her gentle smile. Jenny Schroedel said, "People like Mother Teresa didn't spend much time in front of the mirror. Instead, she devoted herself to becoming a mirror, reflecting God's dancing light wherever she went." What was so entrancing about the face of Mother Teresa was that it became a mirror of her virtue. Look at a picture of her, you are immediately drawn into her beauty. It is as if you can see the holiness of her soul radiating through the smile on her face. The complexity of her face, became a beautiful expression, not only of her emotion, but of the love of God. When people looked at her, they saw the face of God. 

Our faces are prone to all kinds of "imperfections." We will not avoid acne, redness, wrinkles, etc. We were not likely created with a precise "perfect" angle of the chin. Yet, we have the power to show the world who God is through the gentleness, kindness, joy, and love expressed on our faces. 

When people look at us, will they see the beauty of our souls? 

Today's Challenge: 

Print a picture of Blessed Mother Teresa (or use a holy card) and put it on your bathroom mirror. When you look at it ask the Lord to help you to look past the "imperfections" of your face and to radiate true beauty like her. 

Today's Prayer: 

Heavenly Father, you know the desires of my heart. You gave me a great desire for beauty so that I would seek virtue. Help me to grow in virtue so as to be truly beautiful. Help me to focus on the interior and become a mirror for you. May I not strive for worldly beauty but a beauty that shines from my soul. Let my face shine with your love. Amen.